I know, i know. And I can’t defend it. i’ve been incredibly busy as of late. When i re-launched, I forgot how much time it takes to keep things current. I apologize. Please know, I’m not faking anyting here. I don’t even have time to write, how would I have time to fake? I’m not giving up. I’m just attempting to explain.
I’m not an economist (insert joke here), so I’m looking for an answer. We all know the dollar is slumping against the Euro (although it’s up a bit today). With a weak dollar, shouldn’t prices on items by going up? Inflation is low, but I’m not sure why. It seems that since a dollar is buying less, prices on homes, and other items, should be going up. Now, I understand that the home market is going through a corrections of sort, to get prices back in line, but now that the dollar is weak, hasn’t that line changed? I really have no idea. That’s why I’m looking for insight. Also, how exactly is the home situation affecting the dollar? is it due to the number of devalued properties right now? Thanks if you have any.
My guess? Yes. The spring market will not mark a bullish return to the halcion days of home selling. In fact, i think it will be more of the same. However, we do plan to re-list and are ramping up our efforts. It seems I’m not alone in my thinking either. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com, predicted at a housing forum last week that, if the economy slips into recession or if efforts to prevent foreclosures don’t pick up substantially, the housing market downturn could last through the end of the decade. Mmmm, last for decades. Such fun.
So the big news in housing is President Bush’s interest rate freeze for subprime mortgages. While, I hate the idea of anyone losing their home and going into foreclosure, I’m not sure this is a good idea. I’m very much a free market guy. The housing market is going through a correction, and we need to allow things to run the course. Some will be hurt, others will benefit, but that’s how a Capitalist economy works.
This rate freeze can result in only three possible outcomes. The first, and the best is that the time buffer will allow some to get their finances together so they can afford to stay in their homes. This would be wonderful, but I fear it will only happen to a small percentage of owners.
The second outcome, the buffer will finally convince people to dump their houses on the market, creating an even larger glut of inventory and forcing home values down further. Of course, those houses would end up on the market eventually by going into foreclosure, but I could foresee a steady stream of houses like these turning into an outright flood.
Third, it’s all just a bunch of hype delaying the inevitable. This is the most probable outcome.
Bottom line, the current situation is hurting a lot of people, but they put themselves into this situation. It’s not the government’s job to bail them out.
But who knows, maybe this will be a magic bullet that saves thousands of family homes. Let’s hope and pray it does for their sakes.
I’m no disciple of Michael Moore. While I find him entertaining, I also view him with about as much credibility as Rush Limbaugh. That said, I do agree with him that the media sells fear.
Fear makes us buy things to feel safer, thinner, healthier, prettier, more exciting, more fulfilled, you name it. Trust me, I work in advertising. Fear can be an effective motivator.
However, in the case of the housing market, fear has had the opposite effect. In this case, fear seems to be driving away buyers and forcing sellers into hiding.
It’s no secret that the housing market crashed, and the media, was right in reporting it. What’ I’m wondering now is if the media, and I’ll even include this blog, by continuing to run with the story is prolonging the crash? At some point the media goes from reporting the news to shaping perception. Now, I’m not blaming the media at all. And I don’t expect them to run feel good stories. But I am curious if the continued emphasis on the down housing market in some way helps make it worse.
Buyers seem more prone to wait and see how low it goes. Potential sellers are apt to wait it out and not put their house on the market, and current sellers, like me, feel like digging and holding the line. It’s a losing situation all around. It seems everyone is waiting for the other to blink.
Maybe it’s time we all fluttered our eyes, and the media found a new story.
What do you think?
A house, very similar to the Worst House In Edina and just a block down the road has been listed for sale for an eternity (sounds familiar). It displayed a sold sign a few weeks back and I’ve been waiting to see what it sold for. Well, today the sold sign is gone. Did the deal fall through? Did it blow away in the wind? I’m not sure yet. But I’m still looking into it. I’d really like to see what that price was and use it as one basis for setting my own in the spring. I wish I could link to it, but it’s no longer listed online.
UPDATE: IT SOLD! Price, $249,425. Let me know what you think.
Here’s the link.
Here, is a re-cap of the offer that fell through. Some of you believed this was a fake offer, but it wasn’t. Then again, it didn’t really matter in the end.To date, it’s the only offer we’ve had. Those of you that have made offers through email or this blog, well, I have not taken those seriously. An offer is only an offer if it’s in the form of a purchase agreement. • A friend tell us of an investor who buys houses in Edina, but he only buys from owners, not realtors. • We check to see when our listing contract expires. Cool, it’s in a couple days. • We begin negations and arrive at a number with the investor after a week of negotiations. • Uh-oh, we find out our listing contract does not expire for a month! • Investors thinks we’re screwing with him, nearly backs out. • We get things worked out, cancel contract and proceed with deal. • We alter the deal structure slightly, but not the bottom line in terms of what we would pocket. • Investors has an inspection done, all checks out. • We receive a pre-approval letter from the investor’s lender. • We agree upon the final details and schedule a closing with a title company. • Closing date comes, but the investor’s finances have not been approved, despite the pre-approval letter. We’re confused. • Title company tells us finances should be approved in a few days, apparently a paperwork logjam. • A few weeks pass. Nothing. • We get to talk to the investor’s lending agent personally. He informs us that there is no way they will approve his loan. On paper, it just does not work out. The investor has 20-plus mortgages out with this institution, and he’s never missed a payment, but they just can’t go ahead with this one. By the looks of it, he shouldn’t be able to cover his current mortgages. • Investors tells us he still wants to buy the Worst House In Edina and he’ll look for a new lender. • We figure this horse is dead and walk away. Tell him if he ever secures the money, we’ll take it, but we aren’t holding our breath. • Investor calls about a month ago. He can’t secure anything. The deal is dead. Big shocker. • We go to Greece for our wedding anniversary and forget all about selling a house for a couple weeks.
Two months have passed and I’ve decided to ramp up the blog again. This time, I will take great care to montior users behaviors. So please, post nice. You can still inuslt me. Heck, that’s half the fun for some of you. However, please treat others in an adult manner. Also, lets stick to real estate topics. Here’s the quick update. The Worst House In Edina did not sell this fall. The deal fell through. The house is currenlty off the market, but will be re-listed in early spring (March/February). I’ll give far more details in the next day or so. Also of interest, my neighbors house is for sale. So I’ll probably be discussing that too. Much has been happening in the market, and I’m eager to discuss it all, and share my thoughts as I begin the re-listing process.Thanks.
I’ve allowed you folks to continue playing your little games of insult and such. It’s odd, but so be it. The amount of anger towards some people and professions on here astounds me. However, LEAVE RACE COMMENTS OUT OF IT. I just deleted two posts with racial overtones. Even if made in a sarcastic light, I will not allow racial comments to fly on here.
One more and I’ll shut this thing down.
Thank you.
So long and goodbye. I’m tired of the insults so I’m done posting about my home. If you want to know what happens, check the real estate transaction section of the Star Tribune or visit edinarealty.com and search for home sales.
The only reason I continued this blog topic was to carry through on a promise I made to chronicle everything that happened during my home selling process. And I have, even when it hurt me. Now people seem more interested in questioning my motives and honesty.
Not once have I ever attempted to do anythng other than tell my tale. I didn’t try to sell advertsing although people offered, I didn’t sell email lists although some asked, I didn’t offer products, I did nothing. I only offered a glimps into my home saga. That’s all. But it wasn’t enough.
Well, no more. I’ve got better things to do than try and validate my choices/finances, truthfulness and motives.
Take care and thanks for the interest and interaction. It was fun for awhile.