What slump? Homeowners in Denial (RE market, contingent, auctions, foreclosure)

[Silverfall]

Well your house and the taj mahal are both white and have a formal looking hedge...how's that for similarities?

[AliceT]

It's like everything else - there are good salesmen and well, not so good salesmen. There are agents out there hitting the streets, checking the properties, getting to know their customers, listening to what buyers want and ready to match the buyer with the property. There are real estate agents doing quite well right now. A lot of property is changing hands.

People are nervous. Too many of those nervous people believe everything in the newspaper. They believe studies and statistics. The economy is less than ideal. The future is uncertain. A lot of people have worries that are surfacing in slanted studies and statistics.

I don't believe the real estate agents are in danger of losing their occupation - provided they know what they are doing and do it well. There is a lot of competition and if one doesn't want to pull his weight and show properties to prospective buyers, then a go-getter will. In that respect, the economy is fine and the housing market is strong.

[NCMommy2-4]

So how do ya know then? I had 4 agents walk in my door all saying to price where we are.. 229K We are appraised at 236K. Does this make me in denial?

I am really about to give up. This bites.

[KCfromNC]

Originally Posted by AliceT

People are nervous. Too many of those nervous people believe everything in the newspaper. They believe studies and statistics. The economy is less than ideal. The future is uncertain. A lot of people have worries that are surfacing in slanted studies and statistics.

Please be serious. This is not a problem caused by the news media. I know the NAR has been pushing this particular piece of propaganda over the last few months, but it's just not true. I could believe that some people are being cautious because of what they read, but the news media is not causing lenders to go bankrupt, banks to write off hundreds of billions in bad loans, or builders to slow new construction to the lowest rate in a generation or more. Those decision were driven by research and real estate market and financial data, not the news media.

I don't believe the real estate agents are in danger of losing their occupation - provided they know what they are doing and do it well. There is a lot of competition and if one doesn't want to pull his weight and show properties to prospective buyers, then a go-getter will. In that respect, the economy is fine and the housing market is strong.

That's not a measure of the economy or housing market. That's just saying that only the strongest few agents will survive the current real estate slow down. If the market were strong, you could point out how new and existing sales rates are going up, inventory is going down, and prices are rising over last year. Of course you can't do this, since the reality is quite the opposite.

I do admire optimism, but I think this sort of faith based approach to economics should not be used to mislead customers when they're making the largest purchase of their lives.

[CouponJack]

Originally Posted by Silverfall

Well your house and the taj mahal are both white and have a formal looking hedge...how's that for similarities?

Here's a little story...

Its funny, when I mentioned to my wife that I liked the color of a particular house in our neighborhood (similiar colors to LB's house), she flipped out and said "why didn't you tell me this when I picked out the colors to our house?"


I replied "because like everything else my opinion doesn't matter when it comes to decorating the house...."


LOL, the colors of our house is very nice but the white w/the dark shutters is a nice look also IMO....everytime I see a house w/those colors I think about that story.

[jimj]

Originally Posted by leavingbyron

I'm not offended, I was laughing when I typed my reply...hence my first reply was goofed because I wasn't concentrating hard enough.... and I couldn't delete it...

I know what you meant, though...and thanks

Hey leaving, I like your house, in fact it's what we've been looking for but in eastern TN.

[AliceT]

Originally Posted by KCfromNC

Please be serious. This is not a problem caused by the news media.

I am serious. I don't believe I can list the top agent in the country (4 of the last 5 years) here as that would be considered advertising. Send me a DM and I'll tell you who it is and you can talk to him for yourself. He has posted on these forums that others have asked him how the slump has affected him and he has said, repeatedly, that were it not for the news, he wouldn't know it existed.

[Greenchili]

I loved the comparison to a "grieving process". This article describes
some of the sellers in my area. This is why we are going with a new
home. Why would I pay more for an older,out of date POS,when I can
get a new one CHEAPER. I have definitely seen this type
of denial here in California. Good article CJ. Thanks for posting it.

Greenchili

[DMenscha]

CJ I'm surprised at you, you usually don't miss much. The story says homeowners, not home sellers. the rest of your post goes on to scold us in the industry and home sellers.

So maybe the majority of homeowners don't spend much time thinking about the market value of their homes. If 5% (I have no idea of the number) of the homes in the US are for sale at the moment, that means 95% aren't for sale and if they aren't for sale, who cares what their value is?

Again the Case/Schiller Index! quote "showed about an 8% drop in home values in November compared to a year earlier, the worst on record." Well Duh, the case Schiller Index is only 8 years old!

This article looks a lot like a repackage of the Business Week article.

[Huckleberry3911948]

just went shopping here with a friend. bottom has not fallen out of the market. its not 1993 here.
lots of chicken licken talk but im not seeing it on the market.