Look at these price reductions. (Charlotte, Durham: loans, house, buying)

[DanielChang]

Originally Posted by SunnyKayak

You are just painting an inaccurate picture of the state then there is life and beauty still left in rest of the state other than the triangle as matter fact other than the 14 counties that have higher than normal growth there is still 86 counties that are not so over developed and infrastructure still in tact.
14 counties actually will loose population within years 2010 to 2020

Projected Growth for North Carolina 2010 to 2020

(broken link)

Perhaps I wasn't clear enough. I absolutely adore NC. I just don't want any of "em" moving in here and ruinin' it

[chemteacher]

I left the triangle 2 years ago and now everyone is making it sound like its going to be a TOTALLY different place when I return. The traffic can't be anything comparable to Boston traffic can it?
Is all this craziness concentrated in the Cary, Morrisville, and NW Raleigh area??
Neither my husband nor I will be working in the RTP so we can easily avoid those areas.

Originally Posted by jinxor

I agree. When I first moved to the Triangle 4 years ago, I loved it and was telling everyone back home (SF Bay Area) to consider moving. In the past 2 years I've seen traffic increase what seems like tenfold, new construction sprouting like weeds. Now when people ask me about NC, I say it's horrible and if you're considering relocation, STAY HOME! LQTM

Now don't get me wrong--I absolutely adore it here. Just figure we don't need more people spoilin' it. ;-)

[sls76]

I live in Cary by Preston and don't have any clue where all this traffic is. I'm not saying it's not there, I'm just saying I'm lucky enough not to deal with it. I'm a stay-at-home mom so the commute is not an issue for me. I did have to commute when we lived in Northern Virginia and I worked in DC and that was congestion.

[VickiR]

Originally Posted by urbywan

I love your rose colored glasses. Look I would LOVE to see this area boom for ever! But I believe we will be in the same boat as the rest of the country sooner than later. I wonder Vicky do you wear the real large glasses that make ya look like a bug or the smaller ones very stylish!

I'm sorry urbywan...from your posts, I can tell that you lack the experience and the education of our local housing market to understand what I'm going to say but...WE HAVE HAD NO BOOM! WE HAVE HAD NO BUBBLE! NO BOOM AND NO BUBBLE MEANS WE HAVE NOTHING TO BURST!

As for the glasses...how did you know that I love RED?!!

Vicki

[VickiR]

Originally Posted by TuborgP

Vicki, I think you may have misunderstood me. I was trying to say thats not always what they agent should or could do. Doing so can get them in trouble. I am supporting agents and loan officers being cautious in trying to steer someone away from what they want.

TuborgP, you missed the point...ADULTS are buying houses. Its not up to any agent or any loan officer to STEER anyone. I simply can't tell nor would I be so arrogant as to tell an Adult what they should or could do.

I think you don't understand the role of a buyer's agent.

People that call me have already decided to move.

I assist them in finding the house they want.

I assist them in getting them through the maze of writing up the offer, negotiating the offer, getting the Home Inspections and termite inspections done, negotiating the repairs, making sure all the paperwork is prepared and getting them all the way to closing.

THATS my job.

My job is not to make the DECISIONS for them as to WHERE to live or WHAT to buy or HOW MUCH to spend.

We are talking about ADULTS here.

Vicki

[monkeyboy]

I don't think people are arguing there is a bubble in the triangle that is about to burst and lead to a huge price decline. I think the argument is that the problems in the "bubble" markets will influence demand in the triangle. Given the current level of builders incentives, and how fast they were offered, there does seem to be a spill over. In my opinion, if you are in the market to buy a home, it might be to your advantage to wait a few months. No one is predicting an improvement in the market in the short term, most don't think the recovery will start until 2009.

[gerry1]

I read Mike Morgan's article on the housing bubble and I have to say you cannot make generalizations about NJ based on the shore town of Asbury Park. I know that if you are in a good town with a strong school system you will not be effected. Of course, proximity to NY is a plus. I was in Florida in August and they are experiencing big problems. 1.5 million dollar homes in gated communities with homeless people begging at the stoplight. There is such disparity living side by side. It's very sad to see and while it may not be the reason for the decrease in home prices, it does speak volumes about the socio-economis problems of the area. I was also looking around NC in August-would love to relocate to the Holly Springs/Cary area, but seems very difficult for my husband to locate a job while living out of state. I love to read the hot debates in the area. I do not think there is a bubble to burst in NC-possibly just a rellaxing of the increased activity. Just giving you guys time to catch your breath before us Northerners pounce again.

[tlh1005]

Originally Posted by VickiR

TuborgP, you missed the point...ADULTS are buying houses. Its not up to any agent or any loan officer to STEER anyone. I simply can't tell nor would I be so arrogant as to tell an Adult what they should or could do.

Vicki,
I don't think anyone means to say that it is your job to inform the buyer of the pitfalls they might be headed towards. I have to believe however that there are some agents out there who don't mind trying to educate their buyers in that area. It's also not unreasonable to think that there are agents who would purposely lead a client down a bad road just to turn a quick profit.

Yes, homeowners are adults. People upside down on their homes have the final blame for where they ended up, but in some cases I am sure they had some help along the way.

[VickiR]

Originally Posted by tlh1005

Vicki,
I don't think anyone means to say that it is your job to inform the buyer of the pitfalls they might be headed towards. I have to believe however that there are some agents out there who don't mind trying to educate their buyers in that area. It's also not unreasonable to think that there are agents who would purposely lead a client down a bad road just to turn a quick profit.

Yes, homeowners are adults. People upside down on their homes have the final blame for where they ended up, but in some cases I am sure they had some help along the way.

Sorry to be so disagreeable tonight but the OP DID say the problem with the mortgages were due to Agents and Lenders.

If I were to SEE pitfalls for my clients, I would most definitely make them aware of it. However, its not in my power to make them not buy. Thats ridiculous. Nor is it in my power to keep them from buying the house THEY WANT TO BUY.

I'm very lucky that my buyers and my sellers are intelligent people that do not need to be "led" by anyone.

Thank goodness there ARE intelligent people in this world.

Hubby and I purchased our first house when I was 20 and he was 23. There was NOTHING any Agent nor any Lender could have done to convince us NOT to buy. We were qualified and we trusted our agent to find us the right house and to help us get to closing. We did not ask our Agent if HE thought we should buy or could buy and if he had told us that HE didn't think we should buy, we were strong minded enough to move on to another agent. Even at 20 years old, I understood that the decisions we were making were ours. People that blame others for their mistakes are either immature or lacking in their own judgements.

I feel sorry if there are that many people on this forum that simply can't trust their own judgement and must rely on others to make their decisions for them.

Vicki

[tlh1005]

Originally Posted by VickiR

Sorry to be so disagreeable tonight but the OP DID say the problem with the mortgages were due to Agents and Lenders.

If I were to SEE pitfalls for my clients, I would most definitely make them aware of it. However, its not in my power to make them not buy. Thats ridiculous. Nor is it in my power to keep them from buying the house THEY WANT TO BUY.

I'm very lucky that my buyers and my sellers are intelligent people that do not need to be "led" by anyone.

Thank goodness there ARE intelligent people in this world.

Hubby and I purchased our first house when I was 20 and he was 23. There was NOTHING any Agent nor any Lender could have done to convince us NOT to buy. We were qualified and we trusted our agent to find us the right house and to help us get to closing. We did not ask our Agent if HE thought we should buy or could buy and if he had told us that HE didn't think we should buy, we were strong minded enough to move on to another agent. Even at 20 years old, I understood that the decisions we were making were ours. People that blame others for their mistakes are either immature or lacking in their own judgements.

I feel sorry if there are that many people on this forum that simply can't trust their own judgement and must rely on others to make their decisions for them.

Vicki

*I* would say that a portion of the current market conditions in the country as a whole can be attributed to predatory practices on behalf of a few professionals but definitely the biggest problem is lack of education and greed on the part of the buyers!

I think you're arguing a moot point when you say you cannot STOP buyers from doing what they want to do. I doubt anyone believes you have that power.

If the OP attributed all of the blame to the agents and lenders this is a wrong observation in my book. Most of the blame again lies with the borrowers. Based on my readings of the forums I believe you're a competent ethical agent. You know more than I that all agents aren't created equal. If someone blankets your industry with a generalization I'd expect you to be defensive but don't defend them all, there certainly have to be some agents that should shoulder a portion of the blame.