December 11, 2007

HousingPANIC Stupid Question of the day


Do you ever check out realtor blogs or realtytimes and wonder to yourself, are these people this clueless, or do they simply think that by ignoring the problem, it'll just go away?

Seriously, there's an alternative reality out there today - they call it the "re.net", and they give themselves lots of awards, but they never, EVER, discuss what's really going on out there. It's always a great time to buy or sell a home ya know!

Note to realtors - want to have a shot at making money again? Just tell the damn truth. America hates liars. Trust me, you'll stand out from your crowd. Here's a new marketing pitch for ya - give it a shot!

"Now is a HORRIBLE time to buy a home - it's called 'catching a falling knife'. But maybe I can help you find a sick deal out there, one that even has positive cash flow. And if you 'own' a home and want to preserve any of the equity you have left, get it on the market NOW, price it TO SELL FAST, and let's get you out from under that depreciating debt-trap ASAP!! This market is CRASHING, it's only going to get worse, so the time to move is NOW!"


35 comments:

Martin Hristoforov said...

Buddy, those brokers are not educated. They saw a sign on a back of a car a couple of years ago promising 30k/year.
And now you are taking advice from them? Dudes, get laid for free with a girl that actually wants you, and read a book for a change, start with King Rat.
I mean gosh, did I ever tell you? They got it wrong, it is not the last that laughs the best, it is the one that ENJOYS, for he laughs for years!

Marty

Anonymous said...

awesome post, well said.

Anonymous said...

I was going to do an honest days work for once, but then decided to wish upon a star for a miracle instead.

Anonymous said...

You know the saying, The best way to learn about money is to not have any.

gregoryw said...

A realtor is a person who in their late 20s or early 30s realized they couldn't get credit without a real job. Then the NAR gave them a job and taught them how credit works. I'll give you $100 if you can me a realtor who can spell amortize; $1000 if you find one can do it on a financial calculator.

tater said...

I was on the internet the other day, and came upon this website called realtybid.com. One of the houses that was listed for auction for $57,000 was actually listed in the local MLS for $45,000. I emailed the agent (scumbag), and asked him which price was right the $45,000 list price or the $57,000 price on the internet auction site. He said that the $45,000 was the list price, but the "auction price" was $57,000. Oh yeah, he said that they had gotten it sold for over $57,000. Some stupid sapsucker got taken for $20,000 minimum, and these scumbag real estate agents laugh all the way to the bank. And, we wonder why we're in this financial mess.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Don't buy from these online real-estate auction sites. They are nothing more than a way for real-estate agents and banks to lure buyers into believing that they are getting a deal.

Paige Turner said...

RE: Do you ever check out Realtor blogs...

How about a Sacramento, CA Realtor website that promises the following?

"The Sacramento real estate market is anticipated to start to stabilize by the end of this year... As interest rates drop in 2008... as they are anticipated to, it will create a perfect opportunity for you to purchase."

"For sellers, homes can and will sell in this market. Your home needs to stand out in front of the competition, and there is lots of it. Working with a skilled, creative Realtor as a team, will provide you the framework for setting realistic goals and lead to getting your house sold!!"

Summation: No crystal ball, but...

1. Market stability will come by the end of the year.

2. Interest rates will drop.

3. It is now -- and always will be -- a perfect time to buy and sell.

Real estate market conditions are "anticipated" to improve in Sacramento -- the foreclosure capitol of the country?!? Who anticipates this? David Lereah???

Does this guy actually believe the bullsh!t put out by the National Ass. of Realtwhores?

V.L.

Unknown said...

The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer once said, "The discovery of truth is prevented more effectively, not by the false appearance things present and which mislead into error, not directly by weakness of the reasoning powers, but by preconceived opinion, by prejudice."

consultant said...

The link that establishes a good, strong economy-trust-has been destroyed for perhaps a good while.

After an experience some years ago with a "real estate agent" and her broker, my wife and I quit using agents.

Our careers have taken us to different parts of the country. After that disastrous experience, we started using good real estate attorneys to close transactions and did the rest of the work ourselves. It took a little time, but we actually became quite good at choosing homes to buy (this before the high run up in home prices) and came out ahead in each transaction.

With out last sale and purchase (2000), we found the act of buying and selling had changed profoundly. In talking to "real estate" agents, it felt like we were engaged in some sort of back alley shakedown.

It was at that point we knew criminality, corruption and gross incompetence had completely taken over the buying and selling of property.

I said to my wife, we're staying put for a while.

Not much is written in the popular press about this, but when you destroy trust in economic relations, it is very hard to restore, and, it takes time.

Malcolm said...

see, that's the problem with reality. It exists whether you admit it or not.

Anonymous said...

I went to a pre-sale home inspection yesterday with my wife coworker who was trying to buy a condo. Since I have 10 years of construction work, I was picked to help her. The RE agent got there first, I was already waiting by the condo and she said hi and I thought for sure she would asked if I was looking for a condo, but she just walked on by. She was the classic RE agent, living way way beyond her real ability.
Then the home inspector showed up, looked like he had not worked much in the passed few weeks. Then the buyer showed up the agent said, Bill just got your rate locked in RIGHT before they went up. God, I just rolled my eyes . Same old inspection, I told her to find out how much she could rent this condo for, check the amount the Condo fund had in the bank for repairs( the roof was living on borrowed time) and how many of the condos were rented. She was dead set on buying so what can be said, she is young and making good money. The offer was 179K and the seller covers all closing costs, which I thought she should have offered about 10K less. Just a report from the field. Oh RE agent was on her cell phone for more then half the time talking deals. Virginia Beach, VA

Tyrone said...

I traded some posts with a realtor along these lines, recommending she simply be honest. And rather than trying to pump up the market, slash and burn it back down to where it belongs, making sales along the way. Realistically, they should say f*** the sellers--make the deal at any cost. Perhaps that's how they should sell it--the new NAR mantra... "Sell now or be bankrupt/foreclosed upon.

Anonymous said...

I,ve owned a painting company for 25 years. These peaple have always disgusted me. Their arrogence and absolute belief in their superiority was sicking, enjoy the ride scumbags.

Anonymous said...

please stop insulting the chimps

Ed said...

tater, where can you buy a house for $45K or $57K for that matter? Is this an actual house that one could live in or are you buying the land with a house that needs to be torn down.

Anonymous said...

REALTORS are ignorant first liars second

Anonymous said...

I'll give you $100 if you can me a realtor who can spell amortize;

OOPS! better double check your grammer AND spelling next time!

Anonymous said...

Ed said...
tater, where can you buy a house for $45K or $57K for that matter? Is this an actual house that one could live in or are you buying the land with a house that needs to be torn down.

Ed:

Not sure where Tater is from, but right now in Lansing, Michigan you can search the local listings and find hundreds of houses for under 40K. I am not saying you would want to live in one of them, but for as little as $9,900 (you might be able to get them down to $9,500)you could own a piece of the American Dream.
Just visit: http://lansing-realestate.com and type in your search parameters. Even in some of the nicer suburbs you can find something decent for under $100K, no problem.
Of course, you'll need to be either filthy rich already or self-employed because you are not likely to find a job--any job--in the area.

Anonymous said...

Lansing sounds OK...state govt, Michigan State. Employment should be steady. Either way $100K for a nice house....damn that sounds tempting. I work remotely and can be anywhere.

Anonymous said...

ed, don't know if it's livable, but you can find houses cheaper than cars in Detroit and Buffalo. Detroit's the foreclosure capital of the country, not Sacramento like Veronica Lodge says.

Now why anyone would want to buy a house in those two places is beyond me, but....there ya go.

However....if I could get some sucker to buy my house for 20k over it's value.....hmm......gotta admit I'm tempted to auction it now. ;)

Anonymous said...

Keefer,
You just don't get it. The real estate market isn't crashing everywhere. It's slower just about everywhere, but there's a big difference from Arizona, Florida and So Cal as compared to Blacksburg Va. for an example. The real estate market in fly over country didn't boom and hasn't busted.

Flippers always eventually flop. We didn't have many in our area.

Anonymous said...

.


Great story,


My parents, my wife and I recently took a trip to Rancho Mirage, Ca. While we we're there we looked at afew homes
One agent, an aussie was very professional, warm and engaging!

The next one was a Prick of epic proportions!

Never once did he ask anything about us, who we we're, where we we're from....nothing!!!!!

We found ourselves breezing as fast as we could just to get out and away from this wanker!

As we we're exiting, he asked, "When are you buying"?

"Are you buying within the next 30 to 60 days"?

He was strong arming us, and pissin' me off!

I responded, "we are Not confining ourselves to such a time frame"!

He said, "Oh, your only looking",

......as if we we're wasting his time.

I replied, "Be glad we are looking, no one else is"!

My father a was in Real estate and a broker from 1973 to 1995 in So. Cal., said he had never see an approach to selling like that before!

The house was beautiful, but the agent turned us off so fast, but it made for a great experience and a story!



.

Anonymous said...

Perfect. Very accurate. I wonder if they do something like cut the funds rate by .25 and the discount rate by .5? We'll find out in about 10 minutes.

Anonymous said...

Several homes are being priced to sell along the coast here - BelmontShore, SealBeach, HuntingtonBeach ... but few to none are selling.

Why? The asking price is still way to high, and people have caught on that even beach-front property (or somewhat inland from the shore) is not worth this much.

We have such a long way to go in price drops that it's foolish to even say when we'll eventually hit bottom - where the P/E makes sense once again.

The longer prices stay propped up - beyond the reach of more and more working citizens - the harder the fall will be.

Anonymous said...

OOPS! better double check your grammer AND spelling next time!

Perhaps you'd like to check your own spelling before making fun of someone else. It's g-r-a-m-m-a-r.

I agree 100% with Tyrone. If realtors would be honest with their sellers and buyers, they'd be making money right now instead of whining to the local newspaper about how they don't understand why nobody's buying these days. In my neighborhood there's a house for sale...listed at almost 600K. It's been on the market for OVER TWO YEARS -- gee, could it be because all of the other houses in the neighborhood go for 100-250? Yet the realtor and seller sit there wondering why oh why their ugly house doesn't sell...

Anonymous said...

America hates liars? Not hardly. America hates LOSERS. Lying is A-Ok with people as long as you can pull off what you’re lying about. Every home buyer who lied on his loan application, every mortgage broker who lied by saying he believed the numbers written down, every appraiser who lied about the home’s true worth, every Wall St. liar who sold the SIVs to Insurance fund administrators who chose to believe all the lies. Everybody thought he was getting rich so he didn’t care. Now that the game is ending, everybody seems to rediscovered his moral values.

People are going to try to give the Teaser Freeze/Wall St. bailout a chance because so many people have a stake for economic meltdown to be held off for another generation. When it falls like a lead balloon, just wait for all the “I can’t believe how they lied to me.” Believe it, you ain’t seen (or heard) nuthin yet.

tater said...

quote: Ed: tater, where can you buy a house for $45K or $57K for that matter?

Hey Ed and Bob Reno, I just got an email from that real estate agent saying that the winning bid fell through on this house, so they put it back up for bids. His email said that I should go onto realtybid.com and make a bid on the property, and I laughed my ass off.
The house is in one of Atlanta's intown neighborhoods. There are still some neighborhoods intown Atlanta, that have much older homes that really do need to be torn down, but these flippers come in and patch them up. I know that it seems impossible that you could find a house for that price, but the real-estate market has nose-dived in the Atlanta area (including the burbs). This house was an older fixer-upper or tear-downer that was a bank foreclosure. Please understand that I have not seen this house-just a picture on the internet. I will get you all to the house with the following links.

go to realtybid.com, select the state (Georgia) it will take you to another page, then select the county (Fulton) It will bring up 3 pages of listings. This house is located at: 992 Westmont Road, SW. You' ll see the "auction" price at $57,900.

You can then go to any one of the sites where you can locate the property by MLS Number. When you find one for Georgia Go to the page to locate the property by mls # and type in the number: it is 3431423. Viola! This will bring up the SAME house CURRENTLY listed at $45,900. Bob Reno is right; there are lots of old junkers out there but good luck tryin to find a job there. A lot of these houses really need to be torn down, so all you get is the land in a run-down neighborhood. This looks like one of 'em. It's sittin on the ground getting eaten by the termites from the ground upward. Sorry for the long post.

Anonymous said...

Ed said...
tater, where can you buy a house for $45K or $57K for that matter? Is this an actual house that one could live in or are you buying the land with a house that needs to be torn down.

there are thoes of us who can, because of our geographical locations, buy homes that are priced reasonably. I bought my first home for 59,000 a year ago. The real estate prices here in west central Illinois are really quite insulated from the housing mainia. I wasnt looking to buy at first but rents are high (college town) and i could buy for less (subprime fixed 7%). At 24 years old, single, and dog owner(part of high rent) my 780 sq ft. McDollar Menu home with hardwood floors, new windows, insulation, electrical service, plumbing, roof(5 yrs. ago) heat/ac, and detached garage is more than enough and affordable on my salary.

I am a college grad, have my MBA, and work in my own business(partnership) in a town of 22,000 people. I think that many of you "free of ties and declining value asset" renters and bubble busters fail to realize that

A. even if my home declines in value slightly for a few years, i dont care and it is cheaper than renting.

B. not everyone lives in a city where you pay a half million for the same sq ft. condo

C. in rural america housing is not an investment it is where you live.

so back up off my mcdollar menu shack. its nice, cheap, efficient and even if the value of my home drops 10%... its like 6 grand. Im not worried.

tater said...

"so back up off my mcdollar menu shack."

Whoa, dude. No one's said a thing about YOUR house.


quote: I think that many of you "free of ties and declining value asset" renters and bubble busters fail to realize that

Well, that would be true, because we have not a clue who you are, until you just told us about yourself. BTW, I fall under the "free of ties" group.

Princess Mononoke said...

I have to chime in on this one... about being honest and how America hates liars. NOT TRUE!!!

I'm not a Realtwhore, I am was a mortgage professional. I was honest and most thought I was full of shit! Most of my prospective clients totally believed the other fast talking salesperson quotes. I AM very direct and to the point. I even passed down the wholesale interest rates I received.

Anyhow, my point being... I would tell the prospective client to call me after they signed their loan docs. Sure enough EACH and every one of them got screwed BIG TIME! Thank goodness for the 3 day cancellation period that the client was NEVER told about by the other a$$hole! I would cancel the other bullshit loan for them and then they'd close a loan with me...

That fellow HPer's IS how I obtained most of my business. I now have clients for life and made good friends in the process.

Princess Mononoke said...

I forgot to mention that ALL of my clients are locked into long term fixed rates & no prepayment penalties whatsoever.

Nevertheless, I was only able to save a few dozen. The rest will just have to enjoy their trip to HELL!!!

Princess Mononoke said...

I tried leading the Sheeple to water, but I couldn't force them to drink!

So with that being said... I have absolutely NO sympathy for all those who are or will be losing their homes!!!

Anonymous said...

.


America Hates Liars?


BULLS**T !!!!


Remember the Liar Clinton

Every Lib Dem, Socialist, Fag, Atheistic Moron Loved that piece of S**T!


.

Princess Mononoke said...

Anonymous said...
>>Remember the Liar Clinton
December 12, 2007 4:20 PM

Look who is calling the kettle BLACK! Your dumbfuck nimwit of a President takes the wedding cake as a LIAR, THIEF & CHEATER!

Cleveland Real Estate said...

Just as in any profession and industry, there are the good and the bad...

Why generalizing and stereotyping is necessary I don't know. Perhaps ignorance and not knowing the whole story or picture but deciding to throw a quick blow and assume....

I'm a REALTOR and I love what I do. There are actually people on the planet that don't know everything.

They need assistance and guidance when buying or selling a home. Over the years I've helped many who would have otherwise gotten themselves into a messy financial situation if not for our teamwork and effort.

I've helped buyers that were already pre-approved get better terms, negotiated and saved money for buyers when they fell in love with a home and wanted to pay full price, provided area/neighborhood tours and assisted those coming in from out of the state or country. Helping them make the best decision possible before taking the next step, given accurate resale statistics and values to determine the present and future investment, and have helped many with remodel, decorating and staging tips and advice to spruce up their properties.

There are many benefits to working with an agent. Are there bad ones? Of course. There is bad in every profession.

But for the many that have had good experiences...and don't know it all, there's still a need.

I write the truth on my blog. The real market conditions and what's going on. There's no need for fluff. I agree that nobody should exaggerate the truth or situation we're all facing.

By the way... the price range of $50-$70 in Cleveland can get you a livable home with minor touchups. It can also give you a 1-bedroom condo over looking the lake with pool, amenites and updates. Cleveland is one of the most affordable cities in the country for housing. You'll have to have a good job coming here as with any relocation. The economy is the economy all across the board for these metro areas.