HP has a lot of REIC readers based on the email I get and some of our comments. Not all of them are arrogant lying deceptive jerks in denial (like certain clueless realtor bloggers we know). No, some of them actually know what's hit them and look to HP for a read on the market (as they look for new work).
So this thread is for you. How bad is it? How much less are you making this year than during the peak? Are you looking for work? Who do you blame for the crash? And for the love of god realtors why do you send money to the NAR every year?
November 07, 2007
Open thread for realtors, mortgage brokers, builders, appraisers and other REIC to tell us how bad it is
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34 comments:
Hi I'm Greg Swann and I can't remember the last dollar I made
Agents are not advertising that they specialize in REO/Short Sales here in NoVA.
Agents are telling me that the # of private rentals being listed is exploding in NoVA
It's bad. I talked to a Mtg Broker yesterday who is letting his two condo's go back to the bank, an appraisers whose "investment condo" was going to be his retirement may go into foreclosure. An appraiser a few days ago told me he is two months behind on his mortgage. Another mortgage broker firm has 1 broker living out of his car and another running from the reposs man. I only talked to 3 people yesterday. There's more but you get the idea. . . . Realtors driving around all day doing $50 pre-foreclosure BPO's in thier SUV's paying $3 a gallon. When is the Shit going to hit the fan? The stock market will go up another 200pts today. . . . .
I am the recruiter/Corp Trainer where I work, and yesterday I interviewed a real estate clerk. I work in the energy sector for a company marketing deregulation to consumers and businesses. Recession proof.
Anyway, said RE clerk told me she was rally talented and could sell anything, including houses.
I said not if your can not get your buyer financed. She agreed.
Point being, she will make a good out bound phone rep. I will sit her over by the mortgage people and the construction workers I recently hired.
Anonymous said...
Agents are not advertising that they specialize in REO/Short Sales here in NoVA.
Agents are telling me that the # of private rentals being listed is exploding in NoVA
November 07, 2007 10:06 AM
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Sorry for the typo "not" should be --NOW--!!
Writing from Pasco/Hills Co. FL, guess I don't have to tell you how bad it is. I've got a couple of contracts in "pipeline" but thru new builds or pre-existing, seems like no one wants to take the chance on committing to a resale. Prices are still all over the place, which just makes a buyer even more shaky. Seems the majority of sellers still don't get it or they think after mid 2008 prices will spike again. It confounds me. I am I guess a discount agent working for one of the big guys in RE, if most agents knew what I charged, I may be treated as pariah, but it is what it is and people can't afford that 3% so I do what I can. And on a final note, even with all this Greater Tampa ASSociation of Realtors keeps adding on to their fees & such and as far as I know, you HAVE to pay or you're not selling. There are all sorts of add ons to the annual dues, 99 here for this cause (not cents), 50 for this, heck, I just want to pay what I need to in order to use MLS. Agents ARE hurting and they are upping fees. GREEDY
"Desperate Realtors working at Starbucks"
http://tinyurl.com/2o4jau
I'd say it's pretty bad.....
Speaking of Greg Swann, that dirtbag will never admit he was wrong when he lashed out at the bubble believers... you can depend on it. But check out his blog, because a bunch of the other REIC bloggers on that site are showing they get it.... much more focus on getting sellers to cut their prices. Good fun.
I'm an appraiser in Central Florida. Conventional sales and refi business is dead. Good! I am very busy with FNMA reviews and REO work. We needed this bloodletting to purge the industry of slimy mortgage brokers and part-time Realtors which have more than doubled in the past five years.
And to the PASCO REALTOR: did you know that you can still belong to the MLS ($99 per year) and NOT join the REALTOR board ($500+). Most don't know that they are separate entities now. Of course you will have to go out on your own or join a broker that is not a member of the board as the board makes you join IF your broker is a member (not sure why that is legal).
My next door neighbor is selling her house. Reason: She is going bankrupt. Occupation: realtor.
location: SW of Boston, Mass.
The Good News...
The majority of the foreclosed are
BUSH/CHENEY supporters!!
They deserve all the pain coming their way!!
And #%&*% them too!!!
The NAR is way overdue for some antitrust investigation. If a broker is a member of the NAR then all the agents in that company must join. And as far as I can tell, all brokers belong to the NAR. They seem to have created some roadblocks to doing business unless you're a member.
Anonymous said...
My next door neighbor is selling her house. Reason: She is going bankrupt. Occupation: realtor.
location: SW of Boston, Mass.
November 07, 2007 5:10 PM
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"Nuff Said!!!
my house is for sale. my realtor is top at her firm. she confessed that she was making 250k per year for many years and this year has only now broken 100k. I'd say it's been a tough year for her. She's been in the business for 15+ years.
Appraiser here in SW WA state. Business is down by 75 percent or more. Huge increase in housing inventory and foreclosures. Prices have started to come down and people are beginning to realize that there was a bubble. Lots of condo projects across the river in Portland being cancelled or turned into apartments. Many subdivisions started with no buyers so there are lots of vacant lots sitting around. Builders are now offering incentives such as tv's, cars and vacations. I expect this winter and spring to be dismal unless something extraordinary happens.
I would like to make "just" 100K in my worst year ever....
A realtor just started in my shoe department at dillard's. She hasn't sold a home in almost 9 months.
I think Greg Swann is doing gay male prostitution to make ends meet now
>> A realtor just started in my shoe department at dillard's. She hasn't sold a home in almost 9 months.
Our local Dillard's is closing down. Perhaps YOU should be concerned working!
Re: Nova Rentals--
Prices in Nova will crash...this whole thing has been artifically held up, and is coming down now like a house of cards...Think Rental prices will come down though?
Most sellers however, are still digging in their heels thinking they can get 2005 prices. We rent a gorgeous TH for half of what it would cost us to purchase, and will continue doing so until 2008-2009. All of the TH's in our area sold in the 650's, and they are now priced in the high 400's, but no one is touching them.
Nothing the Fed can do will fix this mess when the fundamentals are so upside down...prices just have to return to some sembelence of affordability--it will be massively painful, but it is the only way out.
Good luck everyone!!
There was a sale on Ramen a couple weeks ago at WinCo. A CASE was $1.48. $1.48 / 24 = .06 per package. Any relation here?
I work for a large water utility in the mid-Atlantic region. I can tell you the amount of new customers coming in the door seeking water service has dwindled substantially over the last few months (20 applicants a week to 2). I don't care since I'll be doing more maintenance then sales for a while. Utility people are probably the best to speak to since developers need our services and we can tell them to f*** off if they get too cocky.
I am a realtor who stopped working in May of this year. I had already had such a slump in my business that it just didn't make sense to continue paying ad costs, expensive car lease and child care to continue. In 2005 I made $135,000. 2004, I made $96,000. In 2003, I made $75,000. In 2006, I made $17,000.
In a nutshell, since I quit, it has gotten way worse. It was already bad, but now I am truly amazed. Not only has my business pretty much ended, unless of course I am willing to be unethical and shove houses down the buyer's throat, lying, cheating and stealing all the way (which is something I never could do), which is one of the methods by which to make a sale at this time, or to start specializing in short sales which is also something I never entered into the biz to do. Suffice it to say, I am job seeking. Spent a nice summer home with my kids for the first time ever, but being in an area that is mostly seasonal and retireee related, I can tell you there are not many jobs and there are many like me looking (and I, unlike many others have a strong work history outside of real estate and still cannot get work).
This is all of course leaving out that I, like many others the field, bought at the height of the market in 2005 and am now upside down in a terrible mortgage that is adjusting every 6 months. Could it get worse? Yes, but at least my kids are healthy as am I and my husband. We will likely lose our home as our bank will not modify or refinance (as it will not appraise), but we will figure it out and I promise you will rent for quite a while before thinking of buying again.
By the way, we were not seeking to flip (if some readers think I am of that type that was looking to reap rewards on the boom), but rather were sitting with hat in hand due to a 630 score after claiming Ch. 13 four years before even though we dismissed it ourselves and paid off all debt. The mindset of these things stick with you and when a lender tells you that you cannot do better, you believe it - even if you are smart, earn a good living, etc. So as a final note, all or any of you that state that these people in subprime loans were greedy, think again. Most of them were truly just seeking a nice home and though they were getting the best deal they could.
Alas, we all learn and boy have I!
"Our local Dillard's is closing down. Perhaps YOU should be concerned working!"
Really? What store are you at? Dillard's is the pits right now. Sales are abysmal and the stock's a dog (it's gone from $40 to under $20 in six months). There's serious talk of a buyout now that the Dillard's kids realize no one is going to give them anywhere close to what they want for their piece of shit. And if they are purchased I wouldn't be surprised if they close 2 of the 4 Las Vegas stores and keep the one I'm in and the store on LV Blvd. I'm trying to get out of there anyways. Good luck to you!
ran in to a high school friend of mine last night. let me just say he's not the brightest bulb on the tree to start. He told me he sold RE for 5 years and is now an insurance adjuster. I ran into him at a club in Hollywood about 3 years ago when this RE boom was still a boom and he told me that RE will never drop. now look what happened.
It's a new paradigm, and everybody who doesn't buy, now, will be priced out forever. Anybody who does buy will be rewarded with a lifetime of riches, as their property will continue its 30% yearly price increase.
Renters, and anybody born in a future generation, will not be able to afford a $10,000,000 starter home in 15 years. They will live in tent cities, and Hondas.
This asset bubble is different than all of the others - it will never slow down, or pop. The gains are permanent.
Keith, if you really cared about the REIC you would be honest. Instead you are disingenuous and misleading. REIC can get the best deal on Ramen not in single packs as your posted picture implies, but in bulk boxes of 50 which you can get at Costco for an incredibly low per unit price. Why would you try and cheat the REIC? Why don't you want them to save as much money as they can? You should be ashamed of yourself.
Mortgage Broker - 4 years.
Its bad. Its like a mystery/horror movie and you have no idea what and when the ending will be. You just know it isn't favorable. You know you need to look for another job but you hang in there because its YOUR business that you put many hard working hours, late nights and your heart and soul into. Never intending to put anyone in harms way. Alot of the clients you worked with are now your friends. Good people. I will miss them.
RE.Agent said...
It's a new paradigm, and everybody who doesn't buy, now, will be priced out forever.
November 08, 2007 2:37 AM
LOLOL! That was funny... Thanks for the great laugh. I really needed it.
I can honestly say that this has been my worst year by far my entire life!!! I can't wait for 2007 to end and I can't wait to start my new career. I've been contemplating life all over again. What do I really really want to do when I grow up??? What is my life purpose??? I know there is a silver lining in this DARK ominous cloud!
Business, what business? I've been living off of my savings and sense of humor. I don't know whether to say that I've been forced into early retirement LOL or am unemployed?
You know, I've always been a true Twilight Zone fan. I just never thought I would be living in an episode.
Piss on all of you. REO/short sales/pre-foreclosures pay way better than vanilla listing/sales. And, you don't have to take jack for backtalk from your clients. They need you way worse than you need them. I tell all my clients up front:
1. If you think you can do it better than me, the lockbox comes off your house and the sign goes away.
2. If you don't do exactly as I instruct, the lockbox comes off your house and the sign goes away.
All the yentas and double-digit IQ dolts who are fleeing the RE biz need to be purged. This is no environment for order-takers. The asset calss will never go to 0, but the oppportunities now are much narrower...and require fewer (and better) agents in order to help the public exploit them.
Forget Ramen altogether--buy a 50 pound bag of rice and a 50 pound bag of beans; they will cost you 20 euros and feed your family for three months! It works for the other 90% of the world.
Yes I agree with you Clotpoll about both real estate and mortgage industry's needing a thorough cleansing. It was necessary.
Thank goodness that I do have reserves to sustain me through this dark time. I don't care to do Short sales, it's a conscious thing! Although you are obviously really good at it. Good for you!
I shall remain a mortgage pro! I work out of my home/office. But it just seems to be a perfect time to contemplate life all over again! Don't you agree???
F*ck Realtors. You are a thing of the past. Learn a new trade. You are doomed.
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