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Reasonable = affordable. Its that simple.
Amazing how you assume what my expectations are for housing prices when I never even mentioned it. Obviously you are ticked off that you've put all your 'blood sweat and tears' and 150K into your house and its now its not worth a million dollars. Sorry to burst you bubble, but your house isn't going to appreciate 20-30% YOY anymore and I'm certainly not going to be stupid enough to pay for one that is overpriced.
You should pick up a paper if you think that things are no worse than 25 years ago.
All great points. That Andrea is obviously one pissed-off lady....read her posts lately on other threads. She obviously has likely been "low-balled" into submission over the past year ...although she obviously is so out of touch it is scary (hates all buyers with a passion it seems because they refuse to boost her retirement fund anymore and thus she wants them all shipped off to CENTRAL PA hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah LOL!!!!!! ..........
That is the problem in the market: The Buyers are doing the REAL Research, hit the KEY websites and REALLY understand the local marketplace. The Sellers however generally rely on their Real Estate Agents who -- for the most part -- do about as much studying of their local markets as my ten year old when she doesnt want to do her math homework (Sorry Tom and Gigi and all the rest of you REA's on the board ).....
I have met no less than four agents over the past six months that never even navigated Google Earth......only the second place any smart buyer goes after MLSI to scope out "the hood" more closely...... SCAAAARY!!!!!!!!!
Last edited by modmondays; 07-31-2008 at 04:11 PM..
At foreclosure auctions, how many bids are there usually? How high do the bids go? Anyone have any idea?
i went to one once..very interesting.. it was actually on the court steps in nassau county... i think they start out on what is actually owed and go from there.. most of the people there were from real estate offices
and even the owner was there but he couldnt come up with the highest bid. its funny the person who won(i believe he was in real estate) offered the owner his business card and said lets talk.
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My fiance are looking into getting a foreclosure auction for ourselves. I would hate it if a broker or an investor ended up bidding higher than us. A lot of people try to make a profit off it, but some of us like to make the house our own. I feel bad for those people whose houses go up for bid. I can't imagine how hard it is to have to go through that.
My fiance are looking into getting a foreclosure auction for ourselves. I would hate it if a broker or an investor ended up bidding higher than us. A lot of people try to make a profit off it, but some of us like to make the house our own. I feel bad for those people whose houses go up for bid. I can't imagine how hard it is to have to go through that.
Anyone else have any stories?
im not sure but i heard if u buy a foreclosure u are also responable for any back taxes they owe as well??
I can tell you this: the way to make money in real estate or any other market is to be a contrarian. That means buy when everyone is screaming the sky is falling and sell when everyone is rushing to buy.
Regarding contrarian investing strategy:
- The last time I checked, there's only one Warren Buffett (the world's most successful value investor). BTW, Warren Buffett still lives in a house he bought in 1958 for $31500 even though he's THE richest person in the world today.
- Contrarian investing is nothing more than a fancy term for a form of value investing. It is more than just betting against the general consensus on anything. You can do it but I guarantee that you will loose your shirts most of the time. It requires extensive research to find the under priced assets in a down market and over priced assets in the up market (this is the essence of the whole thing). Once those assets are identified, go long on the under priced assets and short the over priced ones (duh!). Then you wait until everything snaps back to normalcy. If your calculations are correct, you will be rewarded. If not, well, you loose your shirts How do you spot the over/under priced assets? Well, you compute/estimate what that particular asset suppose to worth by its fundamentals then compare it to the price it is currently trading at. In a sense, all real estate buyers in today's market are contrarians. They just haven't found that under priced asset yet
- IMO, I don't think it is a good advice to tell buyers to buy just because the public believes the housing market is going to get worse before getting better.
- The last time I checked, there's only one Warren Buffett (the world's most successful value investor). BTW, Warren Buffett still lives in a house he bought in 1958 for $31500 even though he's THE richest person in the world today.
- Contrarian investing is nothing more than a fancy term for a form of value investing. It is more than just betting against the general consensus on anything. You can do it but I guarantee that you will loose your shirts most of the time. It requires extensive research to find the under priced assets in a down market and over priced assets in the up market (this is the essence of the whole thing). Once those assets are identified, go long on the under priced assets and short the over priced ones (duh!). Then you wait until everything snaps back to normalcy. If your calculations are correct, you will be rewarded. If not, well, you loose your shirts How do you spot the over/under priced assets? Well, you compute/estimate what that particular asset suppose to worth by its fundamentals then compare it to the price it is currently trading at. In a sense, all real estate buyers in today's market are contrarians. They just haven't found that under priced asset yet
- IMO, I don't think it is a good advice to tell buyers to buy just because the public believes the housing market is going to get worse before getting better.
Excellent analogy. Only a Realtor would say "Buy Now"....then again, dont they ALWAYS say "buy now" - - regardless of the market conditions!!!??? Why wouldnt they? I mean, when was the last time a Realtor, any Realtor said "Dont Buy Now".....I wonder when the NAR last communicated that one to the market??
With stubborn sellers continuing their irrational list pricing strategies (see Andrea on this post) as well as income/rent/home ownership ratios still completely out of whack due to the bubble, one really has to do their research in order to find the "Value" homes in today's market to even consider on buying.
Excellent analogy. Only a Realtor would say "Buy Now"....then again, dont they ALWAYS say "buy now" - - regardless of the market conditions!!!??? Why wouldnt they? I mean, when was the last time a Realtor, any Realtor said "Dont Buy Now".....I wonder when the NAR last communicated that one to the market??
With stubborn sellers continuing their irrational list pricing strategies (see Andrea on this post) as well as income/rent/home ownership ratios still completely out of whack due to the bubble, one really has to do their research in order to find the "Value" homes in today's market to even consider on buying.
Right, but most people buy a home because they have a "need". they need to buy a home or they a bigger home etc. People buy a home when they need to, not because a realtor says to buy a home. If the need is not great enough, then people do not buy.
Right, but most people buy a home because they have a "need". they need to buy a home or they a bigger home etc. People buy a home when they need to, not because a realtor says to buy a home. If the need is not great enough, then people do not buy.
Ok...fair enough...but there are TONS of buyers sitting on the fence right now and most dont have a "gun to their heads"........thus.....that is why it is the buyers that have to do the research to protect their interests in a market where most homes are so over-valued by their current owners that its not even funny....(read posts on this thread).
The "value" homes on LI (value based on list price in line with "rational" buyer fundamentals) are few and far between still and generally need about $100k in repairs/updates within a year or two upon move in. Add that bill to potentially overpaying through the nose on purchase + tax bills + utilities + commute + rising interest rates and you have the perfect storm of RE gridlock for first-time buyers and the middle of the market.
Depends on what you consider "pricing their houses more reasonably."
If a homeowner is selling their house they've owned for 20 years, and over that 20 years have done over the kitchen, bathrooms, windows, doors, floors, etc., what you have to consider is what it cost them to do all that work. Most people aren't do-it-yourselfers, and so the work is hired out and the labor costs on LI are astronomical. Materials are expensive too - even the so-called cheap versions.
And so, you can't expect sellers to just give away all of their investment(s) in their house by setting the price so low that they'll be losing money.
If a buyer wants to find a "reasonably" priced house, they should check out the handyman specials and be prepared to invest their own $ and/or sweat equity in that. Or another solution would be to move to somewhere like central PA where you can pick up a house in great shape for about $200K. That would solve the pricing dilemma as well.
Bottom line is people who bought their houses 20 years ago for $200K will definitely not want to sell same house for $250K, which I assume would be a "reasonable" price to you, especially if they've poured about $150K into it. That $200K from 20 years ago is worth a lot more now when you take inflation into consideration.
Over the years on LI prices have always been high. It's no different now. It was tough buying a house 25 years ago. It's just as bad now - no better and no worse.
I must respectfully disagree with this:
Brokers often hear buyers ask "how long have they lived here?" when showing a house, as if the selling price is dependent on this.
Same home - three presentations:
1. Home purchased 30 years ago for $115K
2. Home purchased last year for $500K
3. Home inherited 6 months ago.
Comps in area are $450-$475K
Should the price be different for any of these three?
Assume you're selling shares in a company. Does the buyer care if you bought the stock last week or ten years ago?
It is worth what it is worth. SELLERS have to learn that the back-story is irrelevant. That goes for "I need to clear..." or "I won't accept less than..." If a seller needs to clear more than a the market warrants, then the broker should turn down the listing.
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