Just checking in - where do you live and what's it like on the ground there today?
Denial? Desperation? Panic?
A sea of for-sale signs?
Empty Home Depot parking lots?
Unemployed realtors and mortgage brokers out looking for their next get-rich-quick scheme?
Moth-balled condo project eyesores?
Fire away...
May 25, 2008
So how bad is the Housing Panic in your town today?
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89 comments:
It's bad now, but this is about how ugly it is going to get!!
Energy Survivalists are in full gear!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QovBLFZhQME
THIS is where we are headed--Good GAWWD!!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24808083/
In the Los Angeles beach cities area, we don't have forests of For Sale signs yet.
A very prominent realtor took over the marketing of this new complex in Redondo Beach early this year. The homes were originally listed for about $799,000 to $849,000. Out of 27 new units, three were pre-sold. Then this whiz-bang realtor took over.
Shorewood, the agency, made a big deal out of their whiz-bang realtor taking over the marketing. Its March press release said the realtor would use "innovative creative marketing techniques" which would "inspire buyers to make offers." These "innovative marketing techniques" really aren't anything other than price cuts, auctions, free HOA, and free closing costs.
Three weekends ago I stopped again just to check things out. I signed the guest list and the realtor there told me five had been sold, which means the whiz-bang realtor only sold two additional units this spring. The following weekend the realtor called me, to see if I was interested. And this weekend I got more phone messages plus emails anouncing even more price cuts and the big Memorial Day weekend sale.
The price cuts are now about 20%, starting at about $599,000, so the prices are still outrageous considering this is one of the higher crime areas of Redondo (by the Galleria). But local sales have recently been bouncing a bit, and I think they stand a good chance of moving most of the units.
If you take a look at the complex web site, you'll see a scrolling banner that says something like "Congratulations! You've timed the market!" Almost sounds like they are crying uncle.
The parking lots at Circuit City and Best Buy looked pretty full on Saturday evening, and my haircutter said her appointment book is filling up again, after a very "scary" spring that lasted until about tax time. So maybe consumers are starting to venture out again.
THIS is where we are headed--Good GAWWD!!
We've been warning you all for the last 2 years here, told you to get a bunker in the mountains to grow your own organic food, stock heavily, lock and load. I got my place overseas already, after selling at bubble's peak. I will get ugly.
You should be in a bunker by Dec 21, 2012.
Here in Petaluma California (north of San Francisco) all is pretty quiet. A home that sold for 660k in '05 is now for sale for 550k. Not a lot of for sale signs, but the ones there are stay there for a month or two. To me the housing crisis is a lot of hubbub and hot air.
Bad very bad in the Modesto area we now have houses that once sold for $350,000 and the same ones now are listed at $139,000 and still not selling. These are $50,000 houses if that. There are alot of people just walking away. What it does do is give me good material for my IcantSellMyHouse Blog
I've been looking at the listings for condos in St. Louis (+Clayton) off and on for the past year or so. Condos seem to be selling, although SLOWLY, with some overpriced units (i.e. other similar units in the same complex priced cheaper) remaining unsold for many months.
I'm wondering at this point if resistance might be developing to paying premium prices for "prestige" buildings (the ones with doormen, etc.) It's one thing to pay high condo fees on top of your mortgage if your unit is constantly rising in value. It's something else when prices are falling.
St. Louis has TONS of absolutely beautiful and historic old buildings, and many of these have been converted into condos over the past five or ten years. Some of the smaller developments have high security through technology. Many of the larger complexes have doormen, as do the fancier pre-war apartment-style condos. St. Louis has a LOT of crime, so the doorman is not purely decorative.
I'm wondering if there might be a "reversal of fortune" for some condos, with the ones that were traditionally more valuable ending up being less valuable. Alternatively, maybe some condo-owners will vote to do without doormen despite the added risk if times get tough.
I've heard that condos/co-op apartments in parts of Manhattan took a nosedive during the 80s. Did anybody on this board live through that?
The parking lots at Circuit City and Best Buy looked pretty full on Saturday evening, and my haircutter said her appointment book is filling up again, after a very "scary" spring that lasted until about tax time. So maybe consumers are starting to venture out again.
Dead cat bounce from the Chinese/Arab Stimulus Check.
Look at the L.A. Times blog Keith.
We've got a Congresswoman housing gambler who got caught.
"THIS is where we are headed--Good GAWWD!!"
Great!! More Al Gore propaganda!
In Parker, CO, people are trying to sell their custom Harley's they bought with their HELOCS for $30k.
How 'bout a Harley bubble??
Stupid wannabees paying top dollar for a motorcycle... WDF's...
This very funny video perfectly sums up the 2008 presidential race IMO:
The Politics of Dancing
(You can skip to 1:50 for the best part)
I will get ugly as well. Make sure your compound and your crops are protected from fires, and that your water supply cannot be poisoned. These are tactics that my militia will regularly employ in smoking you pigs out of your holes. Of course if you simply agree to feed and house my soldiers in your community and share your wives/daughters with them, we will allow you to live. Your choice.
Riverside, California
MAJOR DENIAL! $700,000 houses sitting for over 410 days next to 300,000 buck repos! And the repos arent even selling.
People still have jobs, but that is slowly drying up. Construction work is hard to find but WALMART is always hiring! :)
Anyway I thought about buying up a repo, but what if squaters or someone worse moves in to the repos next to me? What if the neighborhood really goes to hell?
A few years ago, Kathleen Breault was just another suburban grandma, driving countless hours every week, stopping for lunch at McDonald's, buying clothes at the mall, watching TV in the evenings.
That was before Breault heard an author talk about the bleak future of the world's oil supply. Now, she's preparing for the world as we know it to disappear.
Breault cut her driving time in half. She switched to a diet of locally grown foods near her upstate New York home and lost 70 pounds. She sliced up her credit cards, banished her television and swore off plane travel. She began relying on a wood-burning stove.
"I was panic-stricken," the 50-year-old recalled, her voice shaking. "Devastated. Depressed. Afraid. Vulnerable. Weak. Alone. Just terrible."
Convinced the planet's oil supply is dwindling and the world's economies are heading for a crash, some people around the country are moving onto homesteads, learning to live off their land, conserving fuel and, in some cases, stocking up on guns they expect to use to defend themselves and their supplies from desperate crowds of people who didn't prepare.
The exact number of people taking such steps is impossible to determine, but anecdotal evidence suggests that the movement has been gaining momentum in the last few years.
These energy survivalists are not leading some sort of green revolution meant to save the planet. Many of them believe it is too late for that, seeing signs in soaring fuel and food prices and a faltering U.S. economy, and are largely focused on saving themselves.
Some are doing it quietly, giving few details of their preparations — afraid that revealing such information as the location of their supplies will endanger themselves and their loved ones. They envision a future in which the nation's cities will be filled with hungry, desperate refugees forced to go looking for food, shelter and water.
"There's going to be things that happen when people can't get things that they need for themselves and their families," said Lynn-Marie, who believes cities could see a rise in violence as early as 2012.
http://green.yahoo.com/news/ap/
20080524/ap_on_re_us/environmental_survivalists.html
If you take a look at the complex web site, you'll see a scrolling banner that says something like "Congratulations! You've timed the market!" Almost sounds like they are crying uncle.
All the vaguely porno soundtrack lacks is some high-quality dubbed moaning. Perhaps I should e-mail them to let them know, in case they forgot?
Anyhoo, itz different here in Massachusetts. A whole new way to live, if you want to shell out seven figures to look out over a mini-storage place, red taillights on Route 9 and Speen Street in an unending stream and like the convenience of popping down to Neiman-Marcus for $5,000 bondage-lite dresses.
What boggles the mind, or my mind anyway, is that a few of these turkeys have in fact actually been sold. The condos, that is. And presumably a few of the dresses, as well.
But aside from weird nonsense like the above, we seem to be still partyin' like it is 2005 in most of the western suburbs. Baby, wife dog and I took a walk yesterday afternoon. We came across a guy doing yardwork, clearly for somebody else. Being polite sort, the wife said "hi" to him. He said hi back to her, looked at her and said "I have a place on the Cape, but I prefer what my t-shirt says." Which was Bermuda. The wife was wearing a t-shirt that said "Cape Cod."
WTF? Dude spending his Saturday afternoons mowing somebody else's lawn has a second home on Cape Cod? And is also apparently familiar w/Bermuda?
Yup, we got a looonnggg way to go around here. I'm thinking the fun hasn't even really started yet.
Check out this greedy a-hole on the loan safe forums
http://tinyurl.com/5t8rxj
Suddenly decides that he doesnt care for his situation anymore becuase his house is going down in price. Nothing else has changed, he knew the commute before he purchased.
Get this, he wants to withdraw 20k of his line of equity and walk (effectively stealing the 20k) and not one of the forum members have pulled him up on it.
This is what we are seeing now!
Phoenix is getting desperate.
I'm going to time the bottom !
No matter what happens, I'll do better than someone who bought in 2005-2007 :)
here in beautiful downtown long beach
ca, a two bedroom condo unit in my complex went from $260,000 a few months ago to its current offering price of $220,000, according to redfin.com. imagine what my one bedroom is worth now. it was $300,000
two years ago. my mortgage and hoa dues combined are still less than rent so i not selling.
Metro DC/NOVA:
Holding its own, but significant cracks in the facade. Outer ring of exburbs have plunged in price and had a massive wave of foreclosures. Now price is affordable & there is an up-tick in sales activity. Inner ring & inside the beltway are holding up OK, but if you do not price it right and take a 10% cut of that price plus pay closing costs then it will not sell. Getting a single offer, be very flexible and catering to the needs of a buyer is a must if you want it sold. Foreclosures are up in the inner ring & inside the beltway, but they are concentrated in areas that are heavily ethnic. Stealth foreclosures are in all neighborhoods. Give it a couple more years and once the demorats are in charge and DOD spending is curtailed then we are in for a hard landing around here in regards to economy, to include the RE market.
Miami is in full retreat. Here you have a mixed bag ranging from denial to full blown panic. Especially the lower end of the market (slums) and condos have completely collapsed. A slum property just a few blocks from where I live is for sale for $75K, still no takers. Same house sold in 11/2005 for $343K. That's an 80% hair cut! Some still hold out for their wishing price, 600 days on the market...because they won't sell "bleow market value". I bet if they hold out another 20 years or so they might actually get their asking price.
Condo market has 5 years of supply right now with another 10,000 units scheduled to hit the market in the next 12 month. Buy one get two free... 2 bedroom $750K condos just aren't selling as well as many had hoped. For what you pay in HOA and taxes alone you can rent a place like that.
The upper end of the market is holding up reasonably well with only modest price declines. Forclosures in that segment are usually priced about 30% off peak and some are selling within weeks.
While there is a bottom somewhere we ain't gonna find it any time soon. Local economy is tanking, crime is on the rise, banks are getting real stingy with the money. This still has at least another year to run, maybe more.
Still a lot of denial in Tampa.
Our HOA is gearing up to enforce new rules about sod on the mistaken belief that this will reverse the 40% decline in values since the bubble peak. Idiots.
Something for everyone in FL to be concerned about is the bill currently on Charlie Crist's desk that will once again allow HOAs to file liens over fines of $1000+ for deed restriction violations. If you live in an HOA, sell as soon as you can if he signs the bill (which your lawyer-dominated legislature passed overwhelmingly).
Here in fl where we our our the houses that our for sale seem to be short sales and pre or forclosers. I think they look a mess and I would not buy any of them .Most of the people I talked to who could took there homes off the market to wait for it to come back and get there higher price when it go back up . I think it's called denial.
"...Al Gore propaganda!... (!!!)
{snicker}
They have us right where they want us, don't they?
Prattling on with inane partisan quips; unable to acknowledge the obvious: NEITHER party represents us, unless we pay in advance.
And that costs more than most people have.
No crash yet, I feel we are at the top. Huge inventory of huge new SFHs coming on the market. If May-Sept. are bad then it will get fun next year for sure.
"...Make sure your compound and your crops are protected from fires, and that your water supply cannot be poisoned. These are tactics that my militia will regularly employ...
Cuz we like to go hungry, thirsty, and without whatever spoils we just torched.
DC area checking in: In typical big city newpaper/magazine style, here's a poor little rich person story on waterfront property going from $800k to $700k:
http://tinyurl.com/44nto4
The sort of article that presumes everyone is eating at five star restaurants and buying boats makes me fume. I suppose they figure that's their readership, or wish it was. But by definition, it is not average.
Some friends are still only vaguely aware how off-kilter housing is here. Can't tell you how many times I've heard "it's a good time to buy". Going by the fundamentals, I'd say we're maybe half way there - and that does not account for the big bad recession of the coming year.
"Karl said...
To me the housing crisis is a lot of hubbub and hot air.
May 25, 2008 5:14 AM"
Genius, plain and simple...
A given banks that has say 500 foreclosures in SoCal will put two of three on the market each week at a price fence sitters will risk hand hole-age for.
Banks know the numbers it takes to coerce the too eager fence sitter.
All summer they will bleed out the dolts that think $300k on a house that sold for $500 during the bubble, is a good deal.
Fall will see the banks really start to unload as the $250k-$300 people who can actually qualify are depleted, hands thoroughly ventilated.
All the banks will have left to sell to is people who can only qualify for rational (X earnings) housing prices and those who waited with cash for the actual good deals.
Meanwhile who knows how huge utility bills on 3000 sq' stucco boxes, HOA fees and Mello roos will affect people who start to realize they may actually have to survive on what they earn and not bubble money, house ATM and credit cards. Then you will see people wince at $450 power bills, $250 HOA, $100 Mellos and $300 tax bills per month.
Good Time Charlie
Northrn VA the crash is epic in the distant burbs: Panic. The high income close-in areas are holding up well, but still in denial.
Home despot lots follow that pattern. As for realtwhores, does anyone care about them anyway?
Ever see the movie Pacific Heights?
http://tinyurl.com/5zxe5e
Life imitates art - LOL - live in a luxury crib and then get $$ if you have to move!
"THIS is where we are headed--Good GAWWD!!"
As long as oil does not get expensive in terms of gold, there is no peak oil.
As far as real estate, I think most people are going to be very surprised at how cheap it will get. There are so many houses and condos out there now and at the same time people are struggling, so they will need less housing because they will move in with friends and family. I would not buy anything any time soon.
Anon 9:14
check it out now.
MId Hudson Valley NY
Still in denial here,
Asked a realtor yesterday how things are going, and she explained that this area is not efected like other places.
'this area is diferent' she says.
Maybe the system should be reversed. Just put signs on homes that AREN'T for sale. You can assume everything else is for sale.
Save paper that way.
here in North Coastal San Diego, all I hear now is that the worst is over.
I think we are still just getting started.
I have heard from so many that now is a great time to start buying homes to FLIP!!!!
Its a long way to the bottom. IMO
Here in HB Ca., right down the street from my home, several forsale/foreclosure signs are popping up like weeds along the coast - and it will get much worse.
We are still in the beginning stages with this folks, and there's a long, long way to go before we hit bottom.
Not too bad in LA. I see sold signs still. My business is bad but checks still come in. People are starting to cut loose of their assets to raise cash so I definitely see a pattern of supply outweighing demand emerging.
I am holding. Interest rates will have to go up in lieu of inflation, government spending will need to be cut, taxes will go up, and the job market will shrink.
Same as it ever was.
Just try to pretend you’re rich during all that.
I'm seeing people buying, 3 in the last month. They want to buy and they think prices have come down, so they are pick up houses. 2 were short sales and 1 was a nice beach house. I hear people talking about buying everyday now. I'm in a Federal pay check area and people are spending money.
Anyhoo, itz different here in Massachusetts. A whole new way to live, if you want to shell out seven figures to look out over a mini-storage place, red taillights on Route 9 and Speen Street in an unending stream and like the convenience of popping down to Neiman-Marcus for $5,000 bondage-lite dresses.
I live in Natick about two miles from the absurdity that is "The Collection". If there is a recession happening, you wouldn't know it by going into that mall or the other shopping plazas nearby. Can't even find a parking space if you try to go on a weekend afternoon. When some of those fancy new stores start shuttering we'll know the recession has finally come home to roost. Until then I can only assume that shop-til-you-drop (on your HELOC and plastic) is still in full-effect in the metrowest. Maybe it really is different here??
Unfotunately, these are the same people that will shoot you if you even set one foot on "their land".
"United We Stand ... Divided We Fall"
Anonymous said...
THIS is where we are headed--Good GAWWD!!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24808083/
I am in northern NJ. Here are a few observations:
1. I do not see any for sale signs whatsoever. I think the realtors stopped usig them in order to hide the number of houses for sale.
2. The new condo devleopment down the street from me, where prices start at $1 million, is 30% sold.
3. Price reductions are becoming more and more rare.
4. Foreclosures are low-- only 43 REOs in the entire county.
Denial and for sale signs in almost every building. Still, prices wont go down. Result. the city has now less inhabitants than in 1930, when it was half the size...
Im vulturing right now. No way im going to go in debt for the next 40 years for a 50 year old apartment:)
no buyers to be found for the baby boomers houses in the broke baby bust generation..............
RE: Denial? Desperation? Panic?
I don't worry about those things because I can always pass the time by playing a little solitaire.
V.L.
It's steady as she goes in Toronto. Prices still sky-high, out of reach for most people. I don't get it...
Lots of for sale signs in Northern VA prices are slowly coming down...not quick enough though for me to jump in.
No fire sales as yet in St. Louis but I do notice a lot of "lease to own" signs now. I also notice houses that were for sale last year that are still for sale today AND the asking price is very close to where they were priced last year. I'm starting to think that many of these sellers must acheive a certain price to avoid financial ruin but who knows what motivates some of these folks (and who cares?)
Smug Bastard
"Stupid wannabees paying top dollar for a motorcycle... WDF's..."
Amen to that. I'm shopping for another bike right now and am amazed at the number of Harley's that are sold within one or two years of the purchase date with very limited mileage on same, some under one year old and two hundred miles on the odometer - I mean WTF? If you're going to go buy a bike, ride the damned thing already. I've put 8000 miles on my present bike (Suzuki Blvd.) in less than two years and use it to go to work, run errands, vacation, etc. These posers who buy a bike (any brand for that matter) and then just let the thing sit in the garage just amaze me - if they mortgaged the shack in order to buy and let the thing sit, they are even more stupid than someone who did the same with cash. I honestly believe that some of these people bought the thing, rode one or two times in traffic, became terrorized and are now trying to sell.
Tampa, FL:
From the Tampa Tribune business section, May 24:
"The April median sales price of single-family, existing homes in the area fell 16 percent to $176,000, down from $209,700 in April 2007. In March, prices had fallen 18 percent from the same month the year before."
Also in the paper from the AP:
"The number of unsold single-family homes in April (nation wide) rose to a 10.7 month supply at the current sales pace, the highest level since June 1985."
""The housing market continues to slide away. The very large increase in inventories suggests that there are much larger price declines coming," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com."
""Credit remains tight, the economy is losing jobs, and house prices are falling in more places and at an accelerated rate," said Patrick Newport, an economist at Global Insight. "All this adds up to a dismal house-selling season.""
Also in the same AP article:
"Even with the weak results for April, Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the Realtors, said he saw reasons for optimism that sales would start to rebound in the second half of this year...."
----------------
Lawrence Yun has been consistently WRONG with just about every prediction he has made about housing, yet the paper STILL quotes this dumbass? Why??? There should be some sort of disclaimer that this guy is full of s##t.
As someone here has already suggested, there is a feeling of a dead cat bounce in the housing market right now. Some economists have predicted a bottom later this year. However, if you look at all the facts, they clearly point to a continued erosion of prices and sales well into next year. I personally am looking to buy a house, and must admit it "feels" like a good time to buy, but the facts clearly point out that in another 6 - 12 months prices will be lower and there will be even more inventory to choose from. Patience, patience, patience......
anon, I spent the whole afternoon drinking beer and reading the loan safe forum, Tell Us Your Story.
I saved some of my favorite lines. These are direct quotes from different posters. Just examples of what goes on there.
"I had a queasy feeling when I saw how much the payments were going to be, $1,034 a month against a net income of $1300...There's also a huge balloon payment written into the loan for $94k."
"The seller paid all closing cost, but I still financed 100%... I was quite shock though to find out that it was interest only."
"Our house is not worth anywhere near what we paid for it... I am just really scared of my lender- I don't like to hear people talk to me like I am an idiot... Everyone told us make sure that you buy a house where if one of you looses your job the other can keep up the bills. Did we listen? NO! It was just pure greed."
"I myself am a REALTOR and lender (and facing foreclosure if I can't do a workout with my lenders)."
"Just like everyone got into big money trouble, no job for 3 years, house payments got behind and I did all the things I was supposed to do... I received about 10 months of forbearance, I eventually filed bankruptcy last year one day before the Sheriff's sale...called the mortgage attorney and he talked to me like I was a pig."
"I want you o do me a favor stop saying that you feel like the biggest failure and idiot for signing the loan. You are not just somebody you are somebody special. And that goes for everyone who has their stories of this mess that we are in."
Real stories from really "special" people.
How about "nobody has any freakin' clue because this is a non-disclosure state and the Realtors have a lock on sale price information"?
These are tactics that my militia will regularly employ in smoking you pigs out of your holes. Of course if you simply agree to feed and house my soldiers in your community and share your wives/daughters with them, we will allow you to live. Your choice.
I find your ideas intriguing. Do you have a newsletter I can subscribe to? :)
Greetings from Campbell River,Vancouver Island,Canada
Real estate is still booming here lots of new condo, single family development. Prices are still rising although slower now. Many prices still reasonable eg. 250 K for a sfh crappy new construction on small lot etc.or condo.Lots of people buying second "investment "properties.
Much denial still, but this area is special, (a little bit ) best climate in Canada and fueled by lots of retirees moving in and bringing their money.
I would expect it to fail housing bubble wise at some point,but there may be enough momentum to carry it another year or two. The olympics 2010 in BC is a great denial booster.
Canada never had sub-prime mortgages like the US, which of course helps at this point.
You should be in a bunker by Dec 21, 2012.
What makes you think I want to live in a bunker? Maybe I'd rather have a nuke blow up on my head instead of living like a caveman.
Lots of toys (ATV'S) big monster trucks & SUV's for Sale on the side of the roads here in NoVA/exurbs of DC -
also a LOT more motorcycles on the road too
And tons of resale Homes for sale too - only the desperate/deeply discounted are moving and foreclosures are racking up in droves too.
Chalotte, NC here.
Big slowdown here. Prices are going to go negative Y to Y soon. But doesn't look to be as bad as in the bubble areas, Charlotte only had 5-10% appreciation/year during those years.
A mortgage broker/speculator offered to give me a mortgage 3 times what I could pay last summer. He was a Las Vegas broker who moved here fall 2006 and set up shop, had to get out of Vegas before it completely tanked. He's playing people for suckers still.
AJ
Here is what happened to me 2 weeks ago (real story):
I was looking with my girlfriend some places in Rancho Santa Margarita (CA). The agent showing the places was from First Team Real Estate.
When she called me, she told me that these places (2 bed/2 bath) had price slashes (they were all nice REOs) - they were going for 160K.
When we showed up and talked to her, it was obvious she mistook me for someone else. She called me different name, and generally didn't recall what we were talking about on the phone (and we did several times for over a month).
She showed me those places, all of them had prices over 240K. When I mentioned 160K price, she just fell silent and then started talking about bamboo floors. She was very young and I guess she simply didn't know what to say. There were 2 signs - one in front of the property and one on the door. The sign (For Sale) in front of it said price was 350K. The one on the door was 290K. She said 240K. And on the phone she said 160K. I would be a fool to buy.
It was quite funny actually.
I guarantee these homes will go for around 150K or less by the end of the year.
Anyone thinking of buying now will have their heads handed over to them on a platter.
If price goes down 50K, it's really about 110K post tax. That can pay off your child's education, vacations for 20 years or food for GAWWD knows how long....
Oh wait, prices will go up and everything will be fine...
If you think so, GAWWD help you.
Re: The person who mentioned "used" motorcycles with incredibly low mileage, I have talked to a number of people over the years who have admitted buying the kind of boats that you use for waterskiing and using them 1 to 3 times over a period of several years, and then selling them for a huge loss. You can have a lot of fun taking the kids on a picnic, but how often do you go picnicing? If you don't live on a lake, packing up everybody and dragging the boat down to the lake is a LOT of trouble. And now that gas prices are sky high, I wonder how the people who sell boats for a living will be doing this summer. Not so good, I imagine.
What makes you think I want to live in a bunker? Maybe I'd rather have a nuke blow up on my head instead of living like a caveman.
A bunker doesn't have to look like a cave nor it's an extended option, rather a temporary shelter until the worst has passed. We're talking here about a pole shift due to melting or something else. See the previous Tsunami, Myanmar, and now China? That's little. Remember that the Antichrist, left handed, will arrive mounted in a White Horse (White House) and the end of times will coincide with the end of his reign in 2012.
These are tactics that my militia will regularly employ in smoking you pigs out of your holes. Of course if you simply agree to feed and house my soldiers in your community and share your wives/daughters with them, we will allow you to live. Your choice.
Hmmm...do you people know how to swim like an Olympic champion? You will have to cross a lot of ocean to get to my bunker overseas. Enjoy the die-off.
There may or may not be a correlation here, but perhaps. I live with my son in the suburbs of Denver, in some
"nice" condos near various developments, prices on condos in low 100K, houses about 500K. Went to 2 garage sales today, as have some other's lately. For reference, I worked in an antique/secondhand (nice, clean, polished, dustfree merchandise) for 9 years. People are asking too much if they are serious about getting rid of their unnecessary stuff, and that's mostly what I'm seeing. Really, nothing to write home about, lots of glassware, plastic stuff. There is a lot being offered, but most of it is, well, worthless, and not even pretty. They are offering the stuff they don't like either, but charging what you probably should for cuter stuff. Here, being a big church going community, you seldom find a sale on a Sunday, but there were 3 in walking distance today; that's unusual, and the amount of stuff left from Friday and Saturday was a lot. But prices not according. So I'd say that's a mini-microcosm of denial.
grandma pkk
Anon 3:54 PM
The mods never sleep on that site and they'll ban for even a wiff of disenting comment. Cant have the poor 'victims' getting upset now can we? :)
Here in Green Bay we have long lists of houses that have been foreclosed in the paper every week. Lots of "For rent" signs. Not as many "for sale" signs. Labor market has collapsed. Retail is slowing down.
"...Everyone told us...Did we listen? NO!..."
Pure. Comedy. GOLD!
Quote "no buyers to be found for the baby boomers houses in the broke baby bust generation.............."
Bullseye. Baby bust generation are broke, over educated, underpaid and unemployed. Not to speak of the kleenex generation.
I live in Natick about two miles from the absurdity that is "The Collection". If there is a recession happening, you wouldn't know it by going into that mall or the other shopping plazas nearby.
y2k, you might find this article interesting...
Downscaled hopes for an upscale mall
The Natick Collection was envisioned as a destination for suburban shoppers searching for luxury goods, but sales at some high-end boutiques, some merchants say, are stagnating, and other stores are opting out of the mall altogether.
I originally tried to post this with a bunch of comments via open ID, but I screwed something up. Too lazy to reconstruct, sorry.
The stuff about $500 shaving kits not selling is kind of amusing, though.
Anon 5:35pm,
No, the MetroWest is not different. Retail market condition is terrible. The Natick mall store parking lots are packed because:
(1) They are still relatively cheap compared to more expensive stores further east, like the boutiques in Brookline, Newton and Wellesley;
(2) People are looking more and buying less, so it actually takes more parking spaces to move the less goods. All the stores are doing huge per centage-off sales.
The amount of houses for sale are down because stock does not move quickly and it takes a year or more on average to sell. In Croydon PA some of the homes have been for sale for 3 or more years without any movement in price downward for basically postage stamp bungalows that are still in the same technological state they were built without a single improvement, and they still want 189K to 289K on the average.
I met a realtor the other day from that Red White and Blue sign company that is now the only one who posts houses for sale in our area (they are the only ones left) He worries about '09.
The feeling is that we may see a collapse of everything. He also gave positive spin as usual, thinking that housing will turn around but not until 2010 or better. These guys are still dreaming.
Future warlod,
Guess what happens after the news of the first raid gets out? The farmers will slaughter their animals and burn their supply to prevent capture by you. That's exactly what happened during Russian Civil War about 90 years ago when the communist warlords took over that country. As the going got tougher, the warlords turned on each other. Out of the two dozen top leaders in the soviet leadership in the 1920's, all but two were dead by 1942; all except Lenin died because of political purges by Stalin.
Every house that goes up for sale in my subdivision is sold at or very near asking price (and prices have not been reduced - these are the highest prices ever asked in this neighborhood) - and they sell within 5 to 10 days. I'm still waiting for the housing crash to hit my neighborhood. I'm in north Fulton County (northern Atlanta surburbs). Why aren't housing prices crashing here and inventory building? Things are the same as they ever were. I know there is a housing correction going on in most of the country - I'm not a deniar. I just don't understand why it hasn't hit my neighborhood??
OK... Joe6Pack & JaneZinfandel, let's get this simple, no brainer fact into that fried-burger brain one more time.
Owning a house is not for every one in the planet Earth, particularly in the land of the Americano AKA the land of the Snapper Turtle. If a lone person, a married couple or a family of chumps are poor, ignorant, uneducated, illiterate, buck-teeth, hare lip, obese, fat, diabetic, plain ugly or just looking like a piece of human crap, then that entity or organism is not entitled to own a house, or allowing to think of owning a house, or even dreaming of owning a house. Got it ? A very simple truthful fact to internalize based on Charles Darwin's famous theory: "You don't own jack if you ain't got jack to show you've got the jack to jack with..."
Furthermore, if that particular Americano had voted for "Little Boy + Fat Man" AKA "Dubya Shrub + Penis Shooter" in the last 8 years, then homeboy and homegirl HillBilly and Homer Simpson all alike out there should not consider a house as a place to live in. His and/or her adobe is to be in the horse ban, the chicken shack, the ass stall, or more fittingly, the Snapper Turtle lodge.
So, Hicks and CrackerNutheads out there, the 64 millions Americano-devalued dollars question is:
"Is the Americano roasted yet, and if not, how long before the Americano will be roasted slowly, nicely and juicely like a snapper turtle skewered on a green Chinese bamboo stick from mouth to ass sizzling, fat popping, succulent marinated chunk of turtle meat oozing with aromatic tallow on a bed of white hot charcoal ?"
Are we there yet ? Is Joe6Pack still alive, breathing and kicking ???
Annon said Lots of toys (ATV'S) big monster trucks & SUV's for Sale on the side of the roads here in NoVA/exurbs of DC -
also a LOT more motorcycles on the road too
And tons of resale Homes for sale too - only the desperate/deeply discounted are moving and foreclosures are racking up in droves too.
May 25, 2008 10:35 PM
The motorcycles are the hells angels aka trailor trash in for the Memorial Day weekend.
The housing market here in Chicago is fine. Properties are not selling quickly (i.e. they used to sell within weeks of a listing) but they do eventually sell (now it takes about four to eight months to sell a property). So no housing bubble in Chicago. Everything here is fine.
I live in the coastal sliver of Southern California where the prices are still high.
Even though this is a beach town, people see this as a sign that we are safe from the devestating wave, even though the water has been sucked out in every direction for 150 miles.
I feel like screaming, as they pick over the rocks and starfish.
I live in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Gateway t the tar sands. Real estate and rents have stabilized (not growing 52% year on year like two years ago thank god). Unlikely to go down much unless the oil commodities bubble bursts (historically Edmonton was stupidly cheap for a nice Canadian city, we're still way behind Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto, etc.).
Atlanta's still chugging along. Lots of sold signs this spring. In my subdivision two homes sold, both for almost asking price. One for $290K, one for $770K. Yeah it's that much of a spread in home prices. The street I live on starts with homes in the $270K range and ends with homes in the $1.5M range.
Outer suburbs are getting hit hard from what I hear. Closer to town, not so. Some builders are even raising prices for new homes.
I hate to sound like a NAR spokesman, but what's happening in Las Vegas or Florida is not happening everywhere and r/e is local.
Today, I noted with some satisfaction that the horrid McMansion (canary yellow siding!) that was built a few years ago along my commute to work has a FSBO sign in front of it.
"I want you o do me a favor stop saying that you feel like the biggest failure and idiot for signing the loan. You are not just somebody you are somebody special. And that goes for everyone who has their stories of this mess that we are in."
Real stories from really "special" people.
Special people that ride that little bus with the chocolate flavored windows?
Something for everyone in FL to be concerned about is the bill currently on Charlie Crist's desk that will once again allow HOAs to file liens over fines of $1000+ for deed restriction violations. If you live in an HOA, sell as soon as you can if he signs the bill (which your lawyer-dominated legislature passed overwhelmingly).
Sorry....gotta laugh my arse off about that one....
Would someone please tell me what the living hell is the attraction of an HOA community? I haven't noticed a single one that was that much nicer than the non-HOA ones anywhere that I've lived.
Lots of "for rent" signs here in rural IA. A few for sale signs, but not many.
Guess it's hittin' the heartland now, too.
"Check out this greedy a-hole on the loan safe forums
http://tinyurl.com/5t8rxj
Suddenly decides that he doesnt care for his situation anymore becuase his house is going down in price. Nothing else has changed, he knew the commute before he purchased.
Get this, he wants to withdraw 20k of his line of equity and walk (effectively stealing the 20k) and not one of the forum members have pulled him up on it.
This is what we are seeing now!"
How is this different than Angelo Orange Man Mozillo trashing Countrywide and it's creditors, and then walking with 200million? Seriously I say this guy should go for it. It is the Bush American way.....He should steal it before the bank steals from him. Basically this has turned in to financial cannabilism, eat or be eaten.
Seattle is still doing very well compaired to other cities:
http://www.foreclosurepulse.com/archive/2008/05/27/32932.aspx
Year over year, prices have dropped ~4%.
I also had a friend who just sold her house for ~800K in Wallingford. It sold in under a week... 2 bids, both over asking.
I'm still waiting for the housing crash to hit my neighborhood. I'm in north Fulton County (northern Atlanta surburbs).
They sell 3,200 sq ft mansions for $150k in Atlanta already. How much more do you want to go down? There's no bubble in Atlanta suburbs... Plus you have the Obama base there going into foreclosure without bubble for years!
Alexandria, Va - The townhomes that were for sale over the winter still are, the two next to me have been up for sale the last 3 months or so.
Renting!
They sell 3,200 sq ft mansions for $150k in Atlanta already. How much more do you want to go down?
===========
Uhm no dude. In North Fulton, ie Roswell, Alpharetta, Dunwoody, Sandy Springs, you do not get 3200 homes for $150K. Try more like $350K and up.
I also had a friend who just sold her house for ~800K in Wallingford. It sold in under a week... 2 bids, both over asking.
And you freaking Birkenstock Elitists are always whining like is the end of the world to live in the US. No wonder the concept of paying $8 for a cup of coffee was invented there.
Does anyone else feel like punching these Obama elitists in the mouth every time they open that trap to whine or to chant "Change"?
"Moth-balled condo project eyesores?"
Yes, we have that. Add insult to injury, they stand on land un-ethically seized with eminent domain abuse.
Thanks, Hovnanian.
Someone please argue me out of buying now in Corona CA. Just found a nice looking 3200 sq ft short sale for 350K. Was 790K at peak. Houses this low are now getting multiple offers.
I sold my Orange County bubble house in June '06. Just got notification of rent increase(1.6%).
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