Uh oh.. "Existing Home Sales Plunge"

[Schnooks]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

1. Site for -- shall I be polite and say -- crazy people.
2. The data are very noisy.
3. Calm down and read - Calculated Risk: Comments on Existing Home Sales

lol .. so you must be saying that the NAR is not "crazy"? lol

Sales of Existing U.S. Homes Fall as Affordability Drops - Bloomberg

[OIF VET]

i got a VA Loan preapproval so im searching for houses and put in an offer today, was turned down cause i didnt have a down payment. Yet the money is guaranteed and my bank will close in 45 days, their asking price was $400k i offered $375k

i hate ignorant sellers/listing agents and they say theyre desperate to sell? Desperate my ass

[oldtrader]

got a VA Loan preapproval so im searching for houses and put in an offer today, was turned down cause i didnt have a down payment. Yet the money is guaranteed and my bank will close in 45 days, their asking price was $400k i offered $375k i hate ignorant sellers/listing agents and they say theyre desperate to sell? Desperate my ass

What you did not say, what is the real value of the house. If the value is $400k or more, then turning down you $375K bid is maybe what should have been done.

Just because you want to pay $25,000 less than the asking price does not mean a seller should accept your offer. It would only be reasonable for your offer to be accepted, if that was the market value.

Expecting every seller to accept what ever you offer, is not reasonable to think they would.

[Electrician4you]

Originally Posted by OIF VET

i got a VA Loan preapproval so im searching for houses and put in an offer today, was turned down cause i didnt have a down payment. Yet the money is guaranteed and my bank will close in 45 days, their asking price was $400k i offered $375k

i hate ignorant sellers/listing agents and they say theyre desperate to sell? Desperate my ass

What is the house worth in the area? If its 400k why should the seller accept a lower offer? VA loans have their own rules and regs. They can make the seller jump through hoops fixing things that may be overlooked by a conventional or cash sale. And since most sellers like to see some % down it makes them think you have nothing on the table and can walk because you have nothing on the table. I have not heard one person say they are desperate to sell. That would be like throwing a bucket of blood in the water. As a seller even IF you are desperate to sell you don't say it. Its a invitation to getting lowballed. How do I know this? Because I've done it when I felt or heard must sell or saw a price drop.
Put yourself in their shoes. You are selling a house fir 400k would you take 25k less?

I'm looking at a house that was starting at 899k then it dropped to 799 then to 775. 200 days still hasn't sold

[parentologist]

Interest rates are still at historic lows. Before this recession, the last time rates were this low was over 50 years ago! 4.5 sounds high compared to 3.5, but not compared to 6-17%. If you need to buy a house with a mortgage, this is still an excellent time to buy.

[davecj]

Originally Posted by parentologist

Interest rates are still at historic lows. Before this recession, the last time rates were this low was over 50 years ago! 4.5 sounds high compared to 3.5, but not compared to 6-17%. If you need to buy a house with a mortgage, this is still an excellent time to buy.

That's a moot point though because 50 years ago you could purchase a home for under $10,000.

You can't make a blanket statement that it's a great time to buy because there are too many factors that differ between markets. If anything, a healthy real estate market exists when rates are between 5-7% instead of incentivizing buyers with cheap capital. If the homes are trading at higher interest rates, then a healthy market exists because the incentive isn't pushing the sale.