June 13, 2007

Condos selling for 50% off in Ft. Myers Florida, Desperate Homedebtors freaking out

Watch this video.


Condo appraised for $310,000, sold for $185,000.

Recent buyers screwed and outraged.

50% off firesale.

Yup, this is what a housing crash looks like.

Homedebtors, lesson #1 in a housing crash: You'll always lose to the builders.

Always.

Lesson #2: You should have listened to HousingPANIC.

57 comments:

Out at the peak said...

Finally a really good link to send to nay sayers at work. This news clip was well done.

There is no better way to determine market price than an auction.

Anonymous said...

"It's not fair"

what?

The markets work. Unfortunately the fair price is now worth 50% less.

Sorreeee.

Anonymous said...

That video is fantastic! I love the attitudes and sorrowful faces on the FB's that bought at 300-350K. They actually thought that the builders had some kind of "loyalty" or "obligation" to them to continue to sell at high prices just because that's what the FB's bought at. God were they pissed.

One went for $145,000. BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

Like the lady said, they promised to sell those homes at fair market value, AND THEY DID!

Fair market just happened to be what people, on that day, in that auction gallery,
WERE WILLING TO PAY!!! You can't be any fairer than that.

blogger said...

Homedebtors are learning they don't set the price

The market does

Anonymous said...

The Brits are among those being taken to the cleaners in this the latest Florida Land Boom - couldn't happen to a better bunch IMHO. The Florida land swindler meets the get rich quick Brit or Scot - they deserve one another.

Smug Bastard

Anonymous said...

I laughed and laughed and laughed - can you imagine the kung fu fighting that will be going on in that development for the next several years? HHAHAHAHAHHAAHAH!

Anonymous said...

In the words of the wise Boss Hogg:


I'll give you 50% of 50%!



smn

Unknown said...

$145,000 for a townhouse -- first realistic price I've seen in ages.

Anonymous said...

But they may be only worth 65,000

Anonymous said...

If the current owners thought the prices were so low, maybe they should have bought one or two more and reduced their average ownership cost!
Hey just keep paying your mortgage, and in 30 (or 40) years you will have a house free and clear (provided a 30 year amortization on your loan, does not apply to taxes, insurance or HOA fees). At least you are not renting and throwing all your money away - JUST HALF OF IT!!

We have a builder here doing 30% off a large portion (if not all) of their spec homes, and really, that is just the starting point - I imagine you can squeeze them a little further. This clip is not exactly a big surprise to me.

Anonymous said...

wow. can you imagine what will happen when they move in to their new neighborhood? i dont think the neighbors paying twice what you paid are going to give you the time of day. you're not going to their bbq, heck they'll be expecting handouts and bbq's from you year round.

Anonymous said...

If Greg Tohler had been a buyer instead of an existing homeowner he wouldn't have been nearly so incensed! I'm sure he'd have been bragging about what a shrewd "INVESTOR" he was! Shit Greg, If you liked the house before, whats the matter with it now? Oh, whats that? You only bought it in the first place so you could live there for two years so you could flip it and pocket the proceeds sans capital gains taxes?! Well congrats nitwit! Welcome to the rough and tumble world of real estate investing!

Anonymous said...

The builder said he was sorry!

nice guys.

Its great news for the economy, can you imagine if RE kept going up 4eva? Wed have hyper inflation like brazil =end of world.

Anonymous said...

A home is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it. Period.

Anonymous said...

Ft Myers. Whoopdeshit.

When 50% is happening in a city where I'd actually like to live, then I'll celebrate. Ft Myers could be 90% off and it won't help me in DC where prices are as high today as they were in 2005.

Christopher Bermingham said...

I must be in the minority because I really like visiting Ft. Meyers :)

The other difficulty in that area is that hurricane insurance is becoming very difficult to obtain which has the side effect of rising assoc. fees. I imagine that the Ft. Meyers market is going to rebound more quickly than most though, because it is still a very nice place for people to retire to.

Anonymous said...

50% loss on a condo? Hell that's nothing. Back in the late '70s Ocean City MD condos that originally sold for $75K were auctioned by the bank at $12K -- an 84% haircut.

The story with condos is always the same, why, oh why won't people ever learn?

Anonymous said...

"it won't help me in DC where prices are as high today as they were in 2005."

Once the Dems end (in 2009) the full employment for contractors program, aka The Iraq War, DC will go down. And how.

Anonymous said...

Someone said:

Ft Myers. Whoopdeshit.

When 50% is happening in a city where I'd actually like to live, then I'll celebrate. Ft Myers could be 90% off and it won't help me in DC where prices are as high today as they were in 2005.


Some estimates place 40-50% of homes bought in the "Great Housing Boom of 1999-2006" were bought on speculation, i.e. as 2nd homes/rentals/flips.

Some cities (like Florida) were swept up in the speculative frenzy more than others. Florida has always been prone to speculative booms, as in the mid-1920's (before the Stock Market Crash of 1929). Florida has been 'ahead of the curve' on the boom, and now on the crash. Some cities haven't yet peaked (e.g. Portland/Seattle), but they'll follow the trend soon.

What's interesting is you're admitting the D.C. market to have reverted to 2005 prices? So prices don't only go up, huh?

Anonymous said...

ha ha ha !! ha ha ha !! ha ha ha !! ha ha ha !! ha ha ha !! ha ha ha !! ha ha ha !! ha ha ha !! ha ha ha !! ha ha ha !!

they bid and paid 150k?
THEY STILL OVER PAID!!!

ha ha ha !! ha ha ha !! ha ha ha !! ha ha ha !! ha ha ha !! ha ha ha !! ha ha ha !! ha ha ha !! ha ha ha !! ha ha ha !!

Anonymous said...

So, now we just need to have that happening in San Jose.

Actually I already know a nice developmnet where I would love to buy at 50%

I hope KB Home is starting to auction soon!

Anonymous said...

fish,

You nailed it! In fact, all of those people grumbling at the auction! It's SO OBVIOUS that this got to a point that it was no longer about real estate at all!?

What a home came to represent was the lavish lifestyle one could "well afford" by constantly turning over said property either through sale or re-fi and not have a tax bill!

Your "Golden Wonka Ticket" (TM) to the good life! Pfftt, at least half of the momentum players had to be laughing like coke dealers knowing full well the stucco cr@p box they just signed on with ZIP down wasn't worth NEAR what they weren't paying on it! Yeah, it's junk, will probably turn out badly and some people will get hurt... but rights now, I'm gettin mine!

Now they can actually show their faces on TV? I wouldn't have the guts.

DinOR

Anonymous said...

Hey...

Everybody keep watch with hurricane season coming...

If one makes landfall in any part of Florida, I'm sure every developer and FB within 75 miles will try to claim for disaster funds from the Feds. And the Florida governor, Congressional folks, etc., will turn a blind eye so as many of their citizens can get their heads out of the noose as is humanly possible. FYI: The current head of FEMA ran the Dade County emergency services branch and I'm sure will be sympathetic.

Anonymous said...

Do I get a pat on the head for this link? Or was it lined up anyway?

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
"it won't help me in DC where prices are as high today as they were in 2005."

Once the Dems end (in 2009) the full employment for contractors program, aka The Iraq War, DC will go down. And how.

June 13, 2007 9:00 PM
---------
Agreed. DOD always gets cut back and goes through a RIF (reductin in force) post conflict. Add to that the BRAC of DOD civilian jobs
out of Arlington & into Belvior/Meade/APG, as well as completely out of this area e.g. HRC/Hoffmann complex going to Louisville, Ky (Ft. Knox) there will be a significant drop in DOD hiring & gov't contractor jobs. How it will play itself out no one knows but it will be not be pretty.

Anyone new to the area just needs to hold on tight, give it a couple of years and save as much money as possible for a down payment. FB/HDs will be greatful just to get rid of them by then after dealing with being a landlord and realizing somethings are priceless (namely an aggrevation free life) and take the loss!!

Paul E. Math said...

I feel sorry for the FBs. But fair is fair. If their condos had doubled in price instead of halving, would they have felt sorry for the 1st-time homebuyers? No, they wouldn't.

It's actually hilarious that the FBs are so mad. They really believed that real estate could never go down in value. The more people that see this the more people there will be that will know they cannot trust their realtor, appraisor, homebuilder and broker.

Anonymous said...

Absolutely true conversation I had last year;

me; 'you know, if we buy that house next door we'll lose 50% if we have to sell it.'

wife; 'It blocks our view, we need the room, their pool is right under our bedroom window, it's beat up, and you'll never survive the construction noises unless you're the one making the noise. I'll take the loss.'

me; 'Tell her we'll take it.'.

Punchline; you have to live somewhere. Sorry you paid too much but you were happy untill someone received a benefit that you did not. Shut up. You're like a baby who wants someone elses candy.

Anonymous said...

I laughed through the whole thing. "It's not fair" waaaaaaaa. C'mon Mr. Goatee Smart Guy, shed a few tears!

Frank R said...

LMFAO!!!

LOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!

Can't wait to see the Scottsdale version of this video soon!!!!!!!

MUUAAAHHHHHHHHH!!

Anonymous said...

Hahaha!! Those outraged FB's are EXACTLY the kind of people I (and other HP-ers) tried to warn and we got verbally smacked down and called names. I love it! And the builder "sincerely felt bad." Yeah right. I'd be willing to bet those FB's were warned by people like us, and look at them now. Now let's see that throughout the rest of the country!

burn baby burn said...

Condos are always the canary in the coal mine.

I agree who gives a shit about Florida.

This will spread all over the country no all over the world. An auction coming to tour town soon.

Some advice for when you go to an auction do not itch your nose and know what you want to pay before you walk in and when the price goes over that set price you are done. Do not get into a bidding war that is just stupid.

Where are all the trolls now? I CAN'T HEAR YOU!
Oh the humanity oh the humanity!

Anonymous said...

can you imagine what will happen when they move in to their new neighborhood? i dont think the neighbors paying twice what you paid are going to give you the time of day.

If I was moving in, I wouldn't care all that much. The idiots who paid $300K for a cracker-box with shared walls will be in foreclosure within a couple of years anyway after their ARMs reset.

"They promised they wouldn't sell the house below fair market value! Outrageous! Waaaaahhhhh!"

They kept their promise! Imagine how much more pissed they'd be if those houses did sell for fair market value a year or two from now -- for under $100K.

Anonymous said...

the people paying 185 will be crying in a year when they find out
that some better looking condo's a few streets over are going for 125. i personally wouldn't buy anything until i knew that this mess is finally dead and buried and then i would still wonder. imagine the depression that will settle over people who bought high and now the prices are dropping like a lead ballon and now they know if the builders are still making profit(and they are)how much they are giving the builders and what they bought isn't really worth what they paid for it. these guys buy stuff in bulk so if i buy a carpet it's 1000 but if they buy a carpet it's only 300 if you order a special carpet in the design center they charge you 1500 dollars but they pay only 500 and perhaps less.
i always wondered when people would just start getting sick of letting companies and business' seperate them from their money and i guess it's never.

Anonymous said...

Hey nice shirt dude. I would think that that would give him bragging rights. Over paying for his clothes,car,wife and his house. I wonder if he would have got mad if he were able to sell at a profit leaving someone else holding the bag? That PDB(poor dumb bastard). Get ready for housing bubble 2.0! Or maybe its a dead cat bounce. Shiite dunno.

Anonymous said...

I live in Ft Myers. Brand new houses are sitting vacant. There are numerous, half finished houses abandoned by builders. Lots that were going for $50,000+ are $8,500. Grow houses are everywhere.

A friend has his house on the market and has had four people look in 7 months.

The realtor in the same shopping center where my business is located purchased some items from me on credit and still hasn't paid. (What a dope I was to let them buy on credit!)

It is bad here, but it is only just beginning.

Anonymous said...

But they promised to not sell them for less than market price!! she snivelled.

Hehe...market price is what people pay for them.

Anonymous said...

What a terrible thing. People can afford to buy a home without having to subsist on Ramen noodles for the next 30 years. The real estate industry is your enemy. If it was up to them, every home would cost $10 million

Anonymous said...

BUWAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAa!!!!!!!!!!!!! We all knew it was coming.I know somebody who was burned in the stock market bubble only to get heavy into RE in that area.He laughed at the idea of another bubble.BUWAHAAAAA!!!!Greed is a killer.If you make out once you will lose it later.

Anonymous said...

What's interesting is you're admitting the D.C. market to have reverted to 2005 prices? So prices don't only go up, huh?

June 13, 2007 9:08 PM


---------------------------------

Um no. DC prices were at 2005 levels in 2006 and are at 2005 levels in 2007. They haven't reverted, they've stayed the same all along.

Anonymous said...

And the builders probably still made a profit at the 50% fire sale prices.

What does that say about how screwed the prev buyers are?


smn

Anonymous said...

$145/$185 for 2 & 3 bedroom frame shit boxes with the cheapest windows, doors, HVAC, etc, built by mucho illegal labor in hurricane alley........
they overpaid

Anonymous said...

Oh man, this is so great to see. This is the future of each and every bubbletown. This is what we all get to look forward to seeing in our local news over the next several years. The trolls are going to get more bitter and quieter with each of these stories, I notice they've been saying a lot lately but they didn't have much to say about this one...hahahahhahahaha

Anonymous said...

Didn't the realtroll say that real estate only goes up? LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The next auction should fetch $110K for those stucco apartment units

Anonymous said...

and recent Flordia gun laws support shoot nieghbors that treaspass on your front lawn first and then ask questions about thier home price later.

I wonder if the developers at least threw in a couple of bullet-proof vests to protect against the pissed off nieghbors.

Anonymous said...

Evidence there's a ways to go - some flippers were at that auction. To paraphrase Keithely, until no one wants to touch RE with a 10-foot pole, we haven't hit bottom. Those speculators, do they see any downside risk whatsoever?

Anonymous said...

who cares they all are going to get wiped out in a hurricane this year anyway and will then thier homes will be worth the same - $0.00

Ask'm down in New Orleans' if you don't believe me

Anonymous said...

$145K for a crappy townhouse?

what a rip off!

Hey, I only paid $3.19 for a gallon of gas! what a deal..
had i bought yesterday i would have paid $3.44 a gallon.
guess i'm a smart shopper, or better yet, an educated consumer just like to folks who just bougt at the auction.

oh lets see what these new home owners will say at the next local town house auction in the fall, when the same houses go for $45K

can you all see the moron REIC reading this and saying, 'sweet potato' builders have made enough money on the portion they already sold, they will wait rather then sell at a loss..
Ya...
well, here is an interesting posibility.
there is a much higher cost over time to let a property sit vacant then selling now at a loss.
even a builder with deep pockets can only hold out for so long before it begins draining the business.

Anonymous said...

It wasn't "fair" when nobody could get a house at reasonable price. Stop whining, and suck it up babies!

Anonymous said...

KEITH,
This is great for entertainment, but will it EVER come to a place like north Scottsdale, AZ?????

I see these stories and am horrified about how high prices are still in the east valley, especially Fountain Hills and Scottsdale.


Any comments would be appreciated!

Anonymous said...

Each of the FBs in this piece were at some stage marked in the Point of Maximum Financial Risk/Opportunity chart you posted a few weeks back. The loud - mouthed guy looked like he was in the Panic Stage, the woman looked like she might have been in the Panic Stage too but hiding it well, and that other guy (poor fool) is definately in either the Capitulation Stage or the Despondancy Stage. The people who got the good deals are, of course, in the "Laugh Out Loud Stage". This whole housing boom sham is going to breakdown faster and faster as time goes on.

Anonymous said...

This will be so funny when Seattle has the same fire sales. The arrogance of the fliptards is so high although as inventory builds they have been eerily silent.

SNAP!

Anonymous said...

suckers. in the words of Queen " Another one bites the dust"

Anonymous said...

I still love you Keith!!

Anonymous said...

The point is that it's happening. Have to start someplace right? There is an old saying that a journey of a 1000 miles begins with a single step.

What a disaster this stupid RE bullsnot is. I'll be relaxing on my couch in my rental unit watching Seinfeld with the shades closed. I can't help but laugh at the video though. Let the RE implosion begin.

Silex said...

The idea that this is an insignificant event simply because it is not happening in D.C. seems to be faulty.

There are many real estate markets in the U.S. which are similar to that of Ft. Myers, whereas D.C.'s market is peculiar case.

Anonymous said...

Silex said...

The idea that this is an insignificant event simply because it is not happening in D.C. seems to be faulty.

There are many real estate markets in the U.S. which are similar to that of Ft. Myers, whereas D.C.'s market is peculiar case.

June 14, 2007 8:06 PM
------------
Um, its not "different" in Metro DC. I've seen several places that HAD to sell cut price significantly to get a buyer. I've seen several bank owned properties in very nice areas. I've been bombarded w/ e-mails from developers giving away the farm to dump excess inventory. Just got one from Ryan Homes for 8 home sites in a development that they previously proudly advertised as SOLD OUT!! The only thing that's different in Metro DC is that its not to the same boiling point as FL, AZ, CA & Vegas YET!! Give it time, the cracks are there and growing!!

Anonymous said...

Yes these condo's went cheap, but most have a view of the back of BJ's Wholesale Club and Walmart! Why do you think Levit could not sell them!

Wait until these buyers try to sell them!