Real Estate Agents here? (fit in, rentals, mortgages)

[mrcoolmrcool28]

Originally Posted by twobums

I educate myself and never trust 'experts'.... then I form my own opinions and take action.

The main street media has its own agenda.

Good for you!, Yep, you are right about that, and I have a daughter that works at the CBS nightly news in New York, I get this stuff and their behind the desk agenda first hand!

[TANaples]

Good. Don't trust "experts" like the Federal Government (foreclosures, unemployment rates). The Feds won't want you to move to Florida.

[twobums]

too late TANaples! We already moved here...but we did bring our own jobs!

[hiknapster]

I can't agree more.

I think, after living in swFlorida and watching - first-hand - the boom, I got a sense of how things are flowing.

At the beginning of December 2007, I turned to my husband and said, "We are in a recession." At the beginning of June of this year, I turned to him and said, "We just turned the corner."

Now, that's speaking for the entire country. Fort Myers, I think, is moving ahead of that curve. The housing bust came much earlier and unfortunately, people that were upside-down held on, hoping that the tide would turn. It made the catastrophe so much worse.

But I don't think we will see the run-up in prices that we have for a very long time, if ever. Not of those proportions. It was based on word-of-mouth fervor with no economic basis.

And a return to money-hungry investors scooping up homes with no one to occupy them could turn the economy back again, with the investors holding the bag.

Jobless families moving to the area is another recipe for disaster.

The best thing to happen is if retirees keep moving to the area. If they could knock down the useless dry-wall buildings it would help, too.

Kev, are you flipping those properties or holding onto them?

Originally Posted by nhkev

Don't get me wrong I am more than appreciative when someone posts an article or newstory about the area with some info that is postive or negative. The problem with articles (mine or theirs) is that there is not an opposing view. I watch cnbc because they have an issue and have 2 highly educated and experienced people on the subject with completely different views. When they debate the issue they typically find holes in each other arguments. In this environment there are no experts, the gov't in large is pulling the strings in this recovery and you don't know what string they will pull next. Case in point 6months ago car makers were all headed into bankruptcy, got bailed out, and then had the cash for clunkers program and posted record sales. The first time homebuyers credit, and low interest rates help control the real estate market. The gov't can take back some programs if it starts getting too heated up or give more stimulus if it starts to stall. Now this is just another prediction of mine, starting in the fall the unemployment rate will start to fall for these reasons. The census bureau will employ quite a few people at least temporarily, there is some stimulus plan money that will be flowed into the system for infrastructure that hasn't been used, and companies will hire some seasonal employees for snowbirds. hopefully it gets things jumpstarted that starts to feed on itself in a positive way.

[nhkev]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

I can't agree more.

I think, after living in swFlorida and watching - first-hand - the boom, I got a sense of how things are flowing.

At the beginning of December 2007, I turned to my husband and said, "We are in a recession." At the beginning of June of this year, I turned to him and said, "We just turned the corner."

Now, that's speaking for the entire country. Fort Myers, I think, is moving ahead of that curve. The housing bust came much earlier and unfortunately, people that were upside-down held on, hoping that the tide would turn. It made the catastrophe so much worse.

But I don't think we will see the run-up in prices that we have for a very long time, if ever. Not of those proportions. It was based on word-of-mouth fervor with no economic basis.

And a return to money-hungry investors scooping up homes with no one to occupy them could turn the economy back again, with the investors holding the bag.

Jobless families moving to the area is another recipe for disaster.

The best thing to happen is if retirees keep moving to the area. If they could knock down the useless dry-wall buildings it would help, too.

Kev, are you flipping those properties or holding onto them?

I plan on holding. I never know what kind of curveball, or opportunites life is going to throw at me so everything is subject to change. I would bet the next piece of real estate I sell would be my New Hampshire house. regarding drywall issue I wonder what kind of precendence there is for the health dept or some other agency to condemn a property unfit and demand it's destruction.

[nhkev]

Originally Posted by twobums

I educate myself and never trust 'experts'.... then I form my own opinions and take action.

The main street media has its own agenda.

Well how do you educate yourself? what do you read? Do you listen to conference calls? read their balance sheets? Use software programs that tell you put action? I never trust experts either. Which is why when someone posts an article I usually do some research Validate the info and then ponder whether it's good or bad.. Case in point I researched the amount of foreclosure filings ,on the surface they are down, Good thing, but... Last june when foreclosures were higher they were mostly speculators with no skin in the game , not living in the houses, that took out bad loan products and when values went down they skipped out. Now even though foreclosures are lower, they are more families that may have wanted to stay and not only lost their jobs but are now losing their homes. So even with lower levels I would acknowledge that things are probably worse.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by nhkev

I plan on holding. I never know what kind of curveball, or opportunites life is going to throw at me so everything is subject to change. I would bet the next piece of real estate I sell would be my New Hampshire house. regarding drywall issue I wonder what kind of precendence there is for the health dept or some other agency to condemn a property unfit and demand it's destruction.

Good. At this point, I think it is all you can do. I wouldn't invest much more, if at all. You're going to have to deal with all the expenses of the properties, as you know.

You bought at the bottom, I think, or darn close to it.

You had one nail-biting possible Chinese drywall situation, because back then few of us knew about that. You escaped unscathed and now know what to look for.

But I don't see a quick, huge return on your investment. Don't get greedy and wait too long. I've seen how this thing goes in that area. Don't be the last one holding the bag.

Those Chinese drywall homes cannot be restored, in my opinion, based on the facts that I have gathered. Unliveable homes should be destroyed. The banks should write them off - they are going to have to do it at some point - and bulldoze them. At least they then have useable land. Of course this will take years. It's banks, after all, and they don't really care if they leave eyesores. The city should fine them, due to safety issues. Good luck waiting for that to happen.

In the meantime, they are worthless and once everyone figures that out I think they will simply be taken out of the real estate equation. The quicker that occurs, the better off everyone will be.

Then you should sell.

[aidaolympia]

Originally Posted by twobums

nhkev ~ not sure what you are questioning. The comments are from every day people living in SW Florida. They have a ring of truth to them. Living in SW Florida is radically different than reading about it from afar.

twobums,

There is no problem with the telescope. The eyes are shut!


http://www.heraldtribune.com/article...ef=patrick.net
[http://www.cape-coral-daily-breeze.c....html?nav=5011
Aug. 22, 2009

[twobums]

nhkev ~ sounds like you are doing a good job of researching and validating issues already. The world wide economic downturn was called for several years ago by many people, some who were ridiculed on Fox, CNN, CNBC and other TV stations. The crisis did not come out of the blue ~ some who were watching carefully were able to profit or at least mitigate loss.

Listen carefully to a handful of economists who make sense. Then, when they take action, seriously consider following suit. Always follow what they do, not what they say. When pundits & talking heads tell you to buy buy buy Lehman stock or anything for that matter, find out what they are doing with their personal finances.

There is a possibility that the economy has much further to fall.... the other shoe has NOT dropped when it comes to commercial real estate. The impact from that would be significant.

[nhkev]

Originally Posted by aidaolympia

twobums,

There is no problem with the telescope. The eyes are shut!


http://www.heraldtribune.com/article...ef=patrick.net
[http://www.cape-coral-daily-breeze.c....html?nav=5011
Aug. 22, 2009

sometimes it's not an issue with the eyes it's how the brain interprets what it is seeing. Let's take your example. You posted "backlog of 24,000 filings" Please educate us why you think this is signifigant and then I'll comment on why I think it's signifigant. We both see that same number but I'll bet my interpretation is much different from yours.