Selling a house - impossible?

[Flasch186]

Originally Posted by Hell Atlantic

wow...was that always the policy or just in this bad market?

A good salesperson wouldve made that happen anytime...IMO, but Im having to "train" some of the newbies that we could do it (We may have to put in your closing cost's incentive - which means less you come out of pocket for at the closing table) or make it work like a reimbursement.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by dangarion

A little? A little? What the fuck are you smoking? I know you don't live where I live but when the median house price is higher then over 70% of the population can afford it's not a little. My wife and I make more then the average and we cannot afford a home, period. No where within 100 miles from where we live, would could MAYBE squeak into a condo, but then you still have to deal with association fees. It's a big joke.

To be fair, from just scanning real estate prices throughout the nation (I was curious what houses comparable to mind would cost in different areas of the country) but CA in general and the greater Los Angeles specifically are the highest priced market out there. Many parts of the country aren't that ridiculous.

[SteveMax58]

Originally Posted by Hell Atlantic

still, snow isn't for me. i just want sun and blue skies all year round.

Come on down to Florida...I know a nice house with a pool/spa I can hook you up with for a reasonable price.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by dangarion

I know you don't live where I live but when the median house price is higher then over 70% of the population can afford it's not a little.

Just for clarification's sake .... "over 70%" of which population?

The pop. in the market, or the national pop., or what?

[SteveMax58]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

To be fair, from just scanning real estate prices throughout the nation (I was curious what houses comparable to mind would cost in different areas of the country) but CA in general and the greater Los Angeles specifically are the highest priced market out there. Many parts of the country aren't that ridiculous.

Yes...a coworker of mine is from LA. Her family has owned a very small home there for ~20years. Paid $40k...comparables are at ~$450k.

All about proximity to the city.

[path12]

Originally Posted by dangarion

The problem where I live, is that the difference from rent (1200-1800) is a lot more then buying (high 2000-4000).

Ditto. And I'm not moving 30 miles out of the city just to afford a house. Traffic is bad enough as it is. I'm fine with renting for now.

[path12]

Originally Posted by Masked

You may not think houses are worth the price people are asking but the market does - houses in the area are still selling for well over asking.

Interesting in my area: The last three houses that have sold in my neighborhood have immediately put up For Rent signs. So investors are still buying for sure, but there's definitely been a slowdown in the past couple months -- my neighbor has had his for sale a month now at a reasonable price for the area and nary a sniff, and there's another 4 or 5 houses that have been sitting awhile. And that's very out of character, I'd say up until the past few months most houses around here that went on market sold within a couple weeks.

[DanGarion]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

To be fair, from just scanning real estate prices throughout the nation (I was curious what houses comparable to mind would cost in different areas of the country) but CA in general and the greater Los Angeles specifically are the highest priced market out there. Many parts of the country aren't that ridiculous.

Yeah I know it sucks here right now. I've seen the market jump to ridiculous levels.
I used to work at a print shop about 12 years ago, we would do lots of realtor fliers typical prices were mid 100,000's to 400,000 for normal single family homes. Now they start at high 400,000s for single family and they don't stop till you get to 1,000,000... It's a sad market for those of us that make decent money and are looking for a starter home. I'm not going to get myself stuck with creative financing. Screw that.

[DanGarion]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Just for clarification's sake .... "over 70%" of which population?

The pop. in the market, or the national pop., or what?

Pop in the market. National would be even higher.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by dangarion

Pop in the market. National would be even higher.

Thanks, just wondered which you meant.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by dangarion

It's a sad market for those of us that make decent money and are looking for a starter home. I'm not going to get myself stuck with creative financing. Screw that.

Yeah, I have friends of mine from my USC days who are still in the Los Angeles area and several of them are docs now, making good money. Almost all of them have nice homes, but have "creative financing" such as interest only loans which I find to be completely insane.

[DanGarion]

Originally Posted by path12

Ditto. And I'm not moving 30 miles out of the city just to afford a house. Traffic is bad enough as it is. I'm fine with renting for now.

What sucks here is if I move out of Orange County, I'm still paying 500,000-900,000 for a house.

The problem I see in LA/OC area is they build these HUGE houses with barely any front or back lawns. Talking 2000 sq foot plus places with 4+ bedrooms. They really pack these places in. So you are right up next to your neighbor. My wife and I just want a nice small house we don't need something gigantic. Honestly the LA/OC market is built on greed. People want huge houses, tons of toys, and huge profits. I hate the market here... We'd move but all our family is here, and we just bought a business and I have a great job. I don't understand how people our age afford this stuff, other then they are putting themselves in major debt. We have some debt from credit cards I used to have but after 1 year have paid 25% of them off. Hopefully will have them fully paid off by the end of the year, thankfully to some money that we will be getting for a lawsuit our father in law was involved in before he passed away (bittersweet ending). But even after that we will only be able to start saving about $400-600 a month after rent, and car payments. At $500 a month for 3 years that's only approx. $18,873.03(with 4% return), which isn't even close to a 10% down on a house here...

[Logan]

All the creative financing can make plenty of sense if you obtain it for the right situation. Unfortunately, many people used it to qualify for homes they couldn't afford under a normal amortization plan, but they did it anyway thinking that they would keep on building equity with prices continuing to move up. That's another reason people are being forced to sell...5/1 ARMs are repricing now (think of where the economy was at this point in 2002 to see what kind of rates they qualified under) and they just can't afford the new payment. So, combined with financing that paid down little principal, people are taking a bath on sales just to get out from under a big payment.

[timmynausea]

Yeah, it's been a buyer's market for a long time now. I think it's even worse here in the Mid-West. Once you factor in the realtor fees, the person that sold us our house last summer lost a little money. (From what she paid back in '99 for it.)

It just worked out perfectly wrong for her as a seller. Back around 1997-1999, Michigan was among the very top states for housing values increasing. It might have even been number 1 for a while in there. Now we've consistently been in the bottom 5 or 10 for the past few years. She basically bought high, sold low.

It all worked out great for me, though.

[Flasch186]

except that you have to live in Michigan

[Crapshoot]

I guaran-frigging-tee that the Bay Area housing prices would basically put the rest of the country (NY perhaps exempted) to shame - you cannot buy a house in Palo Alto for less than a 900K-1Mil today - that's just how it is. Apartments/Condos maybe - house, no way.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/rfs/377541245.html

[Masked]

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

I guaran-frigging-tee that the Bay Area housing prices would basically put the rest of the country (NY perhaps exempted) to shame - you cannot buy a house in Palo Alto for less than a 900K-1Mil today - that's just how it is. Apartments/Condos maybe - house, no way.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/rfs/377541245.html

I wish housing in the Bay Area was as cheap as it is in Southern California. It would be great to buy a house for only $600,000.

[Wolfpack]

This is the last thread I need to be reading. With a move to NC pending and the housing market here totally in the crapper, I'm clinging to the hope that I can get out of the house at a break-even level. I'm in kind of a fortunate location in my neighborhood, at least. There's a thoroughfare street that intersects with mine at the other end of my block and for-sale signs are everywhere on that street. People are just getting killed in the market for being on the wrong street, as it were. If I went on the market right now, I'd be the only one on my street doing so, which hopefully will give me some advantages. Amazingly enough, we were thisclose to getting a house on the said street when we moved into this neighborhood six years ago before the one we live in opened up. We put a bid in on both places and wound up with this one. We're really counting our blessings at this point that, as bad as things have been, it could have been so much worse.

[Rizon]

Originally Posted by Bee

That blog is the reason I dropped out of RE investing in early 2006. You have to take what they post with a grain of salt, but they do link to a lot of information that indicated this downturn was coming and that it's not leaving in 6 months or a year. While the NAR tries to paint a rosy picture and blogs like this try to make like it's doomsday, I suspect the truth lies somewhere in the middle (which is still bad news for someone trying to sell now).

NAR is kind of in damage control PR mode right now. If they come out and tell the truth and say the market down right sucks, then they might cause a panic attack and make the market worse. Which then dicks over their own members. In dealing with them for almost 11 years, I just tend to ignore what they say (and also the state associations).

[JeeberD]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

We're probably looking to buy in about a year, when our lease runs out. I'm hoping that pirces will continue to go down, in this area, at least.

Dude...why do you and lurker keep copying what my wife and I are doing?!?

[Glengoyne]

Originally Posted by Bee

Sounds like you're describing a short sale which I think will become a lot more common as home values drop and foreclosures increase.

I just offered $100K less than a seller was asking, because they had already defaulted, and I was hoping that the bank would cut its losses.

Didn't happen, but I also know that we've made the only offer they've received in the six months that the house was been on the market. We'll be back in a month. There are two other identical floor plan houses up for sale in the same two year old neighborhood, and there has been no action on those either. Those owners are still asking for what they paid or more, but homes just aren't selling for those dollar amounts these days.

I've been surprised at how much traction the market has with regards to holding value. I am starting to have a better understanding of the mechanics that make that the case though.

[bbor]

Originally Posted by JeeberD

Dude...why do you and lurker keep copying what my wife and I are doing?!?

Foursome?

[JeeberD]

Interstate orgy...I dig it!

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by CleBrownsfan

Talking about the worst time to be selling a house. I've had my house on the market: 1st with a realtor for 8 months - then for sale by owner so I could sell it for less - and now with another realtor and I've had no bites. For the year I've had my house on the market I've had one person do a walk through.

Sucks!! Just wanted to vent...

Whats the rental market in the area like? - is it feasible for you to rent out the property instead of selling it (possibly using a remortgage to help fund a deposit if you're buying a new place?).

This might allow you to retain the house until its able to sell for what you want it to go for ...

[Logan]

Is Marc still on England time?

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by JeeberD

Dude...why do you and lurker keep copying what my wife and I are doing?!?

Dude...why do you and lurker keep copying what my wife and I are doing?!?

[Ryche]

Ahhh! Got a woman who was interested in our house, she stopped by to see it for a second time last Wednesday, bringing her kid along to show him the place. Seemed very interested. Then we find out a few days later she's decided she's just going to keep renting for now.

Now I get a call from my wife saying our realtor was called by the woman who was crying because she wants our house, but she's stuck with another house she made an offer on. Turns out that house isn't in her son's school district. So they're coming by the house to see it again this afternoon. It also turns out her mother is her realtor. Yeah, not doing a very good job for her.

This is a crazy process, I'll be so glad when it's over.

[Passacaglia]

Hey, housing is cheap now. Tell her to buy both.

[Critch]

We bought a house last week, so it's not impossible to sell. The person who sold to us managed it anyway.

It does seem to be impossible to sell a house for what it was worth 2 years ago, though.