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Realtors always love to generate buyer's fear/urgency. They will always love all the Govt cheese that lure buyers to the still-high (compared to income) housing prices. How come you are different?
Not so different.
If you'd hang around here for any length of time, I think you'd find that the agents who are not in favor of the tax credit extension far outweigh the ones that are.
And, FYI, REOs in my area are selling fast & furious - typically with multiple offers over asking.
Buying REO in few places doesn't make it a national trend. Where are those investors in locations where there aren't many distressed properties. Why are they not doing business there?
Well you can add Las Vegas to list of places where investors are buying up the reo's and selling them quickly for a profit. I've been looking for a home there the past 2 months and most of the vacant homes we have seen have been "flips". All I have seen are flipped houses, bank owned, and ower occupied.
My husband and I don't bother looking at short sales. They seem like too much bother. Although we will consider a short sale if it is a pre approved short sale. Anyway it just may become a trend as other cities housing prices start to fall in the way Vegas/Phoenix have?
Location: Mokelumne Hill, CA & El Pescadero, BCS MX.
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Why not look at property in the place you will be moving to and make the offer and close before the deadline? See if the seller would rent back the house for some period of time before you move in.
Buying REO in few places doesn't make it a national trend. Where are those investors in locations where there aren't many distressed properties. Why are they not doing business there?
Are you talking about investors or speculators? Of course, investors aren't going to invest in properties with no profit potential (appreciation or cash flow). They are going to focus on the regions and properties with the highest profit potential and ignore the others.
I'm a future first-time buyer who is, at this point, going to wait for a few years. I am going to wait until the tax credit shenanigans end, AND interest rates (hopefully) rise. I assume it will take a couple of years for these realities to compute in the market and THEN I will buy and pay cash. I already have the majority saved up, and hopefully the higher rates will drive prices down further. Remember, houses are worth no more than people can PAY for them, so higher rates should stifle prices. Just be patient for the highway robbery and hype of the past several years to flush itself out of the system. Patience, Grasshopper...
I am just going to disregard suggestions of going to that state to look at properties to buy before I move there, first because it's not practical, and second because that wasn't what my question was about. The side conversation, however, is interesting. I agree about realtors creating a sense of urgency; if you ask any one of them right now whether the tax credit will be extended, they will respond with a resounding "no" whether they believe it or not.
Hearing some people tell me to quickly go to a city I know nothing about (to paint a more accurate picture of my situation, I live on the Central Coast and am moving to Philadelphia) and make the largest purchase of my life to date over a free weekend (which I don't have anyway), is just more of that "quick-hurry-buy" I'm likely to hear from a realtor.
For a firsttime home buyer, you're a smart shopper. You're correct, realtors use the "Now's the time to buy!" line like a song overplayed on the radio. First time home credits will expire, rising interest rates just around the corner, bank loans drying up, etc. etc. All scare tactics used by realtors to get their hands on your money. 'Creating a sense of urgency' was the topic in a seminar by a leading Colorado NAR Board Member recently. I was shocked he so blatantly discarded the code of ethics by putting profit before people by using psychological manipulation as a tool to sell houses.
Anyway, your biggest challenge in todays' buyers market (which will only continue to get better for buyers for years to come) will be in finding a realtor who is experienced and truely committed to negociating for you. Someone who can use the "buy it now" psychology in reverse against the seller and their agent. To get them to accept the reality that "Sell it now!" is the only way a deal will close. You will have to interview a ton a agents before you find one who is competent in this area.
As the buyer, you have the money, you have the power...right up to the point of signing the closing papers. Use this to get everything you can because you'll only get one shot at it.
Are you talking about investors or speculators? Of course, investors aren't going to invest in properties with no profit potential (appreciation or cash flow). They are going to focus on the regions and properties with the highest profit potential and ignore the others.
Does not your statement implies that investors are not seeing buying opportunities in not-so-distressed areas because home prices are still very high?
Does not your statement implies that investors are not seeing buying opportunities in not-so-distressed areas because home prices are still very high?
And your point is? You stated that investors are not buying, and I offered an example of where they are buying. Of course investors will not buy in areas that offer no profit potential, but such areas do exist.
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