Comments on: Investors have not left the market- but that doesn't mean they are the "smart" money

By: russdog777

russdog777 — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 05:06:47 +0000

So much writing about a realtor trying to distort the truth. Like that wasn’t to be expected. Are you really surprised?

If you can hook her up to the RE agent lie detector then we can see if she is deliberately lying or just utterly foolish:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42V9yQjKitQ&feature=PlayList&p=717776DAE8BAF634&index=24
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zeroagents.com.au tested to see what would happen if we managed to get a real estate agent on a polygraph machine (lie detector) with predictable results

By: Russ

Russ — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 04:16:40 +0000

OK, Housing Doomers may find this amusing (BOLO for a chubby blonde baby – if this came out on 4/1, I’d be suspicious, but it is a 3/31 MLS notice):

SECURITY ALERT

Agents are alerted to be on the lookout for a couple with a baby that robbed an open house yesterday. The couple was described as medium build, clean cut, pleasant, well dressed, female in her late 20′s, male in his middle 30′s with a gap in his teeth, child chubby with curly blondish hair. They robbed an open house on the northwest side of Phoenix Sunday when the “mother” and toddler distracted the REALTOR while the “father” rifled the owners desk taking a laptop computer and other personal items. If you encounter such a couple with child, please notify the Phoenix Police Department. And as always, we encourage you to always be alert when showing property or holding an open house. Your personal safety is of the utmost importance.

By: pipelineaudio

pipelineaudio — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 01:20:42 +0000

Someone please help me understand this. I am willing to live far from Phoenix now just for a little relief from the stucco parking lot the phoenix area has become with no elbow room.

Prices were falling pretty fast last year. I wasn’t about to pay more for a TRAILER on the side of the 60 than for a house with a pool within walking distance of the beach in Kailua, Hawai’i where I keep considering moving back to if these prices dont get near reality

Now the prices are going back up! What in the world is going on? Tonopah, Whitman, Morristown, nevermind Wickenburg! I can easily get a nice house In Hawai’i for less than a doublewide in these areas….should I keep waiting it out? Im confused

By: foreclosure_expert

foreclosure_expert — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 00:07:48 +0000

Here’s my feedback on buyers: I have 5 deals in escrow and all 5 bought for a primary residence. I strongly cautioned them about market values before signing contracts. Most were not concerned because the deals we got were excellent REO’s and can withstand 2+ more years of the same depreciation were saw in 2007. Plus, all of them intend to stay in their new homes for 5+ years (not withstanding a job transfer). One of them liked a house so much that they paid a little more for it than they should have. This was after seeing 50+ properties (and some smoking deals). BUT, I had them sign a disclosure stating they had “seen the comps and realized they could be upside-down in 2009 or 2010 because of the depreciating market. There isn’t much more I can do, because they can always find another Realtor — or work with the listing agent.

I do have several investors sitting on the sidelines arranging their financing and are about to jump into the market again.

If anyone is interested, here is some news about some revised FHA guidelines concerning “flipping” of homes:

http://www.foreclosureexpert.info/2008/03/fha-rules-on-fo.html

By: Russ

Russ — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 22:02:21 +0000

With all of the vacants and would-be rentals in Arizona, I think that even long-term investors would be hard-pressed to justify purchasing here in 2008.

I was cleaning out some old papers this weekend and came across the first few Phoenix housing bubble articles that I printed out in mid-2005. Here’s a sweet RL Brown item from one of them:

“He said the 6,531 permits for new houses issued in June, as well as increases in prices sparked by strong demand, are clear signs ‘that the mythical bubble about to burst that some babble about is not yet on the horizon.’”

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2005/07/18/daily55.html

By: WizeOne

WizeOne — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 20:59:55 +0000

We are not at the bottom yet, but investors use formulas that can differ from the ones used by most other buyers. An investor will look at the long term, and be focused on whether or not all the numbers make sense. If he sees that a rental income from a reduced price property will cover his expenses, he could just wait it out until market conditions improve and once again favor the seller. In our current situation, it could be quite a long wait.

By: Deal Hunter

Deal Hunter — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 19:46:45 +0000

We’re at the bottom when a model home on the golf course that originally sold for $822,500 is now bank-owned and listed for $321K.

By: cfishy

cfishy — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 19:45:18 +0000

In 1993, we bought a little condo in Chicago suburbs because the math really worked like a no brainer. Looking back, 1993 was a bottom. Recently I moved out of Chicago to the SF bay area, so i just have to keep waiting.

By: George III

George III — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 17:37:08 +0000

I´ve always thought it odd that flippers were called investors….even stranger that the NAR would consider them as such.

However, for real investors (ones that are purchasing properties for a rental income stream)prices in certain areas have come down enough so that the math is starting to work again. I´m currently looking at properties in Chicago that are now offered at 50% of their former list price at the height of the insanity. I´m glad I waited.

By: Linenoise

Linenoise — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 16:43:17 +0000

“Eight out of ten second home buyers believe it’s a good time to buy real estate, and a majority plan to buy another property in the next two years.

So what does that tell you?”

It tells me that those who are still investing…er, I mean, throwing money away… in real estate don’t understand what a bubble is.

Seriously, what kind of argument is that? It’s like saying gas prices won’t rise anymore because some people bought Hummers and are planning on doing so again. The rest of us just laugh whenever they go to fill up their tank.

By: cfishy

cfishy — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 16:18:24 +0000

This tells me that the sentiment is still too upbeat for us to be at the bottom.

We’re at the bottom when all these people get burned and no more foolish money is left to throw in.

We’re at the bottom when “nobody wants to buy real estate cuz all it does is lose money.”

We’re at the bottom when nobody calls it a bottom anymore because people are too disgusted and bored to look at real estate.