Now They "Ask For Less" In San Diego
Listen to the bubble popping in San Diego. "Bill Holz of Eastlake is a Navy command master chief. 'We upgraded the house to the hilt. We probably have $100,000 in upgrades.'"
"He and his wife Nancy decided to put their home on the market after less than two years of ownership. Using prices of comparable homes as their guide, they listed it in early February for $919,000, nearly double the $509,000 they paid originally."
It's hard to feel sorry for people who expect such windfalls. "If his home doesn't sell by the end of May, he said he will probably rent it and sell it later. 'People don't make enough money to buy them. Your buyer pool is like a pyramid, the higher the prices, the smaller the pool of qualified buyers. We've got to get somebody moving up from another house or condo or town house that might be able to buy these houses.'"
This is a classic top of the cycle statement. "Alleda Harrison (a realtor) said the current market requires sellers to price their homes less aggressively. Instead of tacking on 10 percent or $25,000 to the price last paid in the neighborhood, sellers should hope they can get a price equal to the last comparable home sold nearby."
And they gaze fondly on the past. "They were hounded by desperate buyers, who wondered if they were paying too much, and nervous sellers, who thought they were getting too little."
Expectations are changing. "There's always the 30, 60, 90, 120-day price."
7 Comments:
Greedy ego maniac, serves him right. Oh yeah, rent it out and wait until you can get your price. He's in for a rude awakening.
bought a home in cape cod in 1993 for $135,000 from a seller who paid $215,000 for it 1987. he brought $17,000 to the table to get out of a 15 year mortgage, paid down for five years. what struck me was the mentality at that time, how bad did he really think the market was and how bad did he think it was going to get. for those of you who have never experienced a down market, remember that a "market" is only what people believe it to be, a perception of many participants. the frothy speculation on the way up can quickly turn to panick, gloom and fear on the way down. it's very interesting how quickly the market in sd went from frothy to normal (2 months on market). my guess is that it won't too much longer to turn from normal to soggy when flippers run for the doors.
I'm sure they'll enjoy the mortgage and property tax bills when they are in Japan. And where did that $100k come from? Probably HELOC. All today probably around $40k/year to wait.
I remember an article much like this in the OC register last year around November. It was about a couple who sold a Huntington Beach house to buy one in San Juan Capistrano. They were concerned because it seemed like the market had turned over night and they weren't getting offers for it.
At the time I thought for sure the bubble was about to burst. Orange County all of a sudden had growing inventory. Then after Christmas, it started to go nuts once again and has been out of control again for the past few months.
I wonder if it is for real this time.
"I wonder if it is for real this time."
God, I hope so. I'm starting to lose faith in Los Angeles - and humanity in general - from this ridiculous bubble.
I went to a party last night for a friend's BOATwarming - that is, she is living on a boat instead of in a house because it is bigger and nicer than anything she can afford on land. Ridiculous.
Good point, Jim - we've neglected to monetize the oceans. And while we're at it, why not start selling real estate in space and on other planets? Your descendants can live there once we have the technology, and meanwhile we can use one-thousand-year mortgages to keep those monthly payments low, low, low!
I'll call Ben Bernanke and tell him to warm up the printing presses.
4:44 anon,
They aren't making any more sky!
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