NOTHING about this market is “free market.” NOTHING! That’s why so many of us are upset. They are protecting and rewarding the irresponsible idiots (borrowers and lenders, alike) at the expense of the responsible people who didn’t over-encumber themselves, and didn’t loan money to people who had no ability to pay back their loans.

François Caron | November 12th, 2009 at 4:54 am
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If $8,000 tax credits from a bankrupt federal govt (and $10,000 credits from a bankrupt state on new homes), and the Fed buying up MBSs in addition to Treasuries (to keep interest rates artificially suppressed), plus the mortgage interest deductions and government-mandated foreclosure moratoriums, and the government telling banks not to foreclose (and they’ll get TARP funds if them comply)…is a free market; well, I just don’t know how one could debate with you.

Good to note that you did the work yourself – those thinking of flipping have to consider the cost and inconvenience of upgrading the property.

How many hours do you think it took to complete this project?

First, I would like to say thanks for Jim running such a blog as it was BECAUSE of bubbleinfo that we decided to buy and try and “flip” this house.

We are not your normal “flippers” if there is a such a thing. We are regular people who saw an opportunity to learn how to update and refurbish a house and perhaps make a profit along the way. If it worked out we would probably do more, if not we would tuck our tail between our legs and head for the hills. We had always thought about either doing a major remodel on the home we live in, or about buying a higher-end fixer to upgrade for ourselves, so this was going to be a learning experience towards that as well.

Now on to the comments. We looked at and bid on a number of homes before getting this one, and consider ourselves lucky that we got this one since we were chosen from a huge number of offers. Cash is not just king on many of these flippers, it is required because the homes are in a condition that traditional lenders cannot lend on them without major improvements. In this house, every window had to be removed and either replaced or re-installed due to obvious problems with the previous owners attempt to install them. Other homes we looked at had cracked slabs, numerous unpermitted rooms, or other “unsafe” conditions that in many cases the potential buyer would not be able to get conventional financing.

For all you would be flippers, I also want to point out that we did nearly all the work ourselves which kept our costs down quit a bit. The neighbors on either side and behind the house were very happy to see the house being renovated as they have also been renovating the houses they were in, and felt it was good for the whole neighborhood.

Yes, we are capitalists, and we do believe in a free market economy, but understand this is not as easy as it looks.

So does that mean that when interest rates rise, the system won’t be a free market anymore? Sorry, that doesn’t compute.
I think Arteclectic is just pointing out how the particular conditions right now have really brought out the sharks. For the regular buyer, if the property isn’t some auction piece that got flipped, then it’s a short sale complete with a mess on the seller/bank side and a looonng wait even if they do get the bid on the other end. This market is not the norm, nor should it be. Funny, my family has lived in the San Diego area for three generations and none of them in the past has had to go through the crazy acrobatics just to buy a house that buyers are having to do now.

We simply have to accept that home ownership is not for everyone. If you can’t play the game, you can’t be in the game. It’s harsh at times, but that’s just the way it is.

One of these days, we’ll understand houses are meant to shelter families.

I can’t wait for the day when interest rates rise so the housing market can be freed of the “get rich quick” types. Only then will we be able to get on with building a real economy.