It's panic. It's desperation. It's neighbor turning against neighbor in selling wars. It's desperate flippers trying to get out. It's folks who now know they got hoodwinked by their realtor last summer when they bought at the peak.
This is how it ends folks. Badly. It'll be everyone out for himself. Blame will go around. Tempers will flare. And it won't be pleasant.
Today's tough housing market is pitting neighbor against neighbor in the selling wars.
"We're not grumpy with them," said Ken Koch, whose Cape Coral home is for sale and sandwiched between two neighbors homes for sale."Although I don't know if they're grumpy with us."
Ken and Wilaiwan Koch have had their home on the market for five weeks and already lowered the price $10,000. Their neighbors to the right, Rachel and Brett Bonham, have dropped their price from $345,000 to $269,900 since November.
Their neighbor to their left, Peter Hadden, reduced his home from $344,500 to $309,900.
"It's frustrating," Ken Koch said. "People have money, but they are waiting for the prices to go down. It's frustrating for all of us."
"There are no stinking buyers around here and these people are panic-stricken — everyone can smell the fear," Elentrio said. "If you don't have to sell, now is not the time."
"I think people who are mad at each other want to make the most money and that's not going to happen right now," Jacob said.
He and his wife moved to their new home in south Fort Myers to be closer to work. If they don't sell the home soon, they will rent it."The market got out of whack," he said "Now it's coming back into reality. Your house is only worth what someone will pay for it."
May 22, 2006
What's that smell? It's panic, it's blame and it's the housing bubble popping
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12 comments:
I cant wait for the fist fights, I watched two idiots fighting for gas in LA last year after Rita, this is gonna be great stuff!
"It's frustrating," Ken Koch said. "People have money, but they are waiting for the prices to go down. It's frustrating for all of us."
Overpaying for an asset is a direct transfer of wealth from the buyer to the seller. As a buyer, I believe the house is worth $250,000, thus why would I pay $300,000 for it just to make the seller feel better?
It's the inefficient allocation of resources that is causing all this trouble in the housing market. Fools expecting to make $$ without lifting a finger. That's only possible in the movies. Even looking at successful day traders, they put a ton of effort into diving stock portfolios. All the yahoos making a fortune of Yahoo in 2000 were crying the google blues by 2003.
nice post moman
"It's folks who now know they got hoodwinked by their realtor last summer when they bought at the peak."
Yeah, it's really the fault of the realtors here. Everyday people want to buy or sell a home. Their choice is to hire a realtor or not.
A residence is not an investment... who doesn't know this??
I've sold homes to investors and residents alike, both for different reasons. No one hired me to be a financial advisor.
We are now going back to the days where one is expected to keep his/her real estate holding for multiple years instead of multiple months if they are trying to make money.
Bottom line, realtors are not and never have been financial advisors. We leave that up to the likes of Keith.
"Bottom line, realtors are not and never have been financial advisors. We leave that up to the likes of Keith."
Oh, so much spin, attacks and historical revision is to come from realtors, the NAR and the entire corrupt real estate industrial complex. It's gonna get ugly.
"We told them not to buy at the top - but people will do what people will do"
Bullsh*t I say, and so will others. The peak of the realtor profession is now behind us and it's all downhill from here on out, until finally, deservedly, there are none left. Like cobblers, like milk deliverymen, like travel agents, professions die, and this one is next.
I would very much like to buy a house, but I am not going to pay $260,000 for a house that the seller paid $125,000 for in 2002. Every house I have looked at with interest is exactly like this (All it takes is a little research through the tax colletor's office).My taxes would be higher, and my insurance would be higher too.
So, why should I be the "sucker" in the neighborhood who payed double or triple what everyone else paid a few short years ago?
Thanks, but no thanks.
Good looking dawgs in the pic.
Is it me, or does it seem that ground zero for the pop is in Florida? I know Phoenix has the numbers, and Vegas is flipper heaven, but is seems that every desperation and panic story is coming from Florida.
Keith don't put words in my mouth. I never told anyone to buy or not buy at the top.
What are you worried about anyway?? You got out before the crash. The market got squeezed upon by the investors.
Anyone who buys today will live in a home that will be worth more in 5 years than what they paid for it.
Investors are running to another product now and there is excess inventory. It will all be sold at somepoint, but many of us realize that the gains won't be there for builders and other kinds of investors.
Like I've always said, consider renting if you have no intention of staying in one place for more than 5 years or so.
Rents will be rising in the coming years. I'm already at positive cash flow and have paid off some of my investment property. It wasn't that hard to do the last couple of years. Now's not a great time to buy if your planning to put renters in homes, but there will come another day when it makes dollars and sense to do so.
I've turned down listings because the sellers want to sell their homes for more than their neighbors did last year. I'm not going to advertise a listing that won't sell because a seller is trying to get 30% more than what his neighbor got last year. I'm a better business person than that.
I'm offering contracts 10 to 30% lower than asking prices on behalf of buyers.
I'm doing fine in this business of negotiating and consulting for sales transactions involving real estate. I'm not a financial advisor though, and recommend to all of my clients to seek council from someone in those fields before authorizing any legal documents I represent.
"I would very much like to buy a house, but I am not going to pay $260,000 for a house that the seller paid $125,000 for in 2002. Every house I have looked at with interest is exactly like this (All it takes is a little research through the tax colletor's office).My taxes would be higher, and my insurance would be higher too.
So, why should I be the "sucker" in the neighborhood who payed double or triple what everyone else paid a few short years ago?
Thanks, but no thanks."
It is this mindset that is finally starting to get into people's heads, but it took long enough! It is beyond me why anyone would do this in the first place! There is no excuse whatsoever to be paying double or triple 2003 prices, as there are few greater fools left. Anyone who decides, in this period of record inventory, that any one house is "the one" and forks over anywhere near list is insane. They should realize that there is probably nobody else who wants that house (or can afford it) and LOWBALL like crazy. If you're not, you're a fool.
drive around LA at lot. See a lot of sour faces in town lately, particularly at gas stations, banks and retail shops. I think that the three big current issues of: RE slowdown, skyrocketing Gas prices and illegal immigration are getting a lot of folks pissed right now. When things get this way expect to see gas station fights, family suicide compacts, increased Litigation, rudeness at bank teller windows, more fluff News about the latest missing/murdered young female,ad nauseum.
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