I love Dr. Housing Bubble, one of the best real estate doomer blogs ever, and still going strong. He did plug San Diego as the best housing market in the West, according to the latest month-over-month Case-Shiller data, but the comments erode quickly:
Enjoy local architecture in October, with lectures, exhibitions, and tours scheduled throughout the month – from the UT:
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/oct/02/archtoberfest-architecture-design-tours/
Fantastic opportunities in the second and third tours:
“Sundays with Save Our Heritage Organisation,” at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. each Sunday in October, Balboa Park and other locations; see sohosandiego.org for details.
Modern San Diego home tours, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Oct. 10; self-guided tours of six homes, $40; tickets at modernhometours.com.
“Oh! San Diego” open house tours of 41 sites, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 17; free. See details at sdarchitecture.org.
American Society of Interior Designers Kitchen and Bath tour, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 24; $25; tickets available from asidsandiego.org.
During the bank-owned/foreclosure era, lenders were adamant about squeezing every last penny out of a deal. They insisted on their escrow and title companies, refused to do any repairs, no termite work, etc. You should just feel grateful that they decided to sell you the house.
People understood the banks’ position – their investors were eating hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the clerks were just trying to stop the bleeding.
But now foreclosures are over, and sellers are back to making hundreds of thousands of dollars of profit on the sale of their home.
But the previous attitude has stuck around.
You could say that listing agents are just trying to save money for their sellers when they won’t do any repairs, no termite, no home warranty, no nothing. They demand shorter contingency periods, shorter escrow times, and the seller might even take a few fixtures if they feel like it.
But in a softer market, they are going to be blowing up deals that could have – and should have – been made.
Why won’t buyers keep going for it? Because their frustrations over the actual negotiations are compounded by the listing agents not returning calls, not responding to offers for 3-4 days, and having an attitude once they do surface.
Of course, just as I get on my high horse about how agents should be treating each other better, I hear from a buyer in the Silicon Valley.
He is having to include a 6% non-refundable deposit now on each offer! If it gets accepted and you don’t like the inspection, then say bye-bye to your 6%!
Hat tip to the reader who sent in this good explanation about variable-range, or value range pricing:
http://www.zillow.com/wikipages/Variable-or-Value-Range-Pricing-for-Homes/
The author takes a neutral stance, and notes that it hasn’t caught on much outside of San Diego (I haven’t heard of it being used anywhere except here).
I also like the point that listing agents should have sellers prepped to entertain offers at the bottom of the range:
Of course, we always make sure our sellers would actually consider an offer at the lower end of the range before advertising it! To do otherwise would constitute misleading “bait and switch” advertising.
In the 10-15 years of range pricing, I haven’t found a buyer yet who likes it.
The foreclosure movie ’99 Homes’ is out – here is the review from Variety:
http://variety.com/2014/film/festivals/venice-film-review-99-homes-1201293206/
Here is what the sfgate.com had to say:
“99 Homes,” a gripping, intelligent thriller set amid the bursting of the nation’s housing bubble, zeroes in on the ruination of the American dream and the morally bankrupt characters who profited from the carnage. Like “The Grapes of Wrath,” it’s a classic example of how to take a social issue and turn it into riveting cinema.
The story opens in an Orlando, Fla., bathroom, where a family man has just killed himself to avoid the specter of being thrown out of his foreclosed home. Not long after the yellow police tape has been set up, real estate broker Rick Carver (the incomparable Michael Shannon) is prowling the premises, with an e-cigarette in his mouth, a cell phone in his ear and a gun attached to his ankle. Carver needs to make sure that the dead man’s grieving wife and kids are shooed off the grounds, so he can keep his banker clients happy.
Then it’s off to another residence, where Carver’s next victim awaits: down-on-his-luck construction worker Dennis Nash (Andrew Garfield, back in top form after his “Spider-Man” foray), his mother (the always reliable Laura Dern) and his son. It’s the first of many evictions in this movie, and director Ramin Bahraini imbues all of them with a palpable sense of terror, anguish and heartbreak.
As it turns out, Carver sees a lot of leadership potential in the handyman Nash, who ends up striking a Faustian deal in which he helps the ruthless broker with evictions in exchange for financial help. Because of Garfield’s skill, and the strength of the script, we sympathize with the desperate Nash and his love for his home, even as he forecloses on his moral values.
Likewise, Shannon provides interesting shadings to Carver. On the surface, he’s Gordon Gekko with a “Miami Vice” outfit, but it’s clear that Carver doesn’t enjoy what he’s doing or view it simply as a way to get rich. Instead, he sees himself as a player trying to survive in a game that’s been rigged against 99 percent of the population. Shannon manages to convey an inner loneliness, a quiet desperation that he’s gone too far but can’t turn back.
The movie trailer:
Thanks to bode for sending in this story:
A woman questioned by the FBI after an Allegiant Air Las Vegas – Honolulu flight says a flight attendant having a bad day and ‘taking it out on’ her is the cause of her exposing herself and refusing to put out an e-cigarette inflight.
Passengers on the flight told authorities that Sharp exposed her breasts, swore at the attendant and also threw a crumpled can with soda still in it at him.
But she explained: ‘I didn’t mean to throw it at him. I was trying to hit the trash can that was next to him.’
After putting out her e-cigarette, she allegedly went to the lavatory to continue to vape. Before things got worse though, she apparently “passed out for the duration of the journey.”
A number one hit in 1967 – love the dancers!
Dropping mortgage rates are likely to keep buyers interested – and maybe pay a little more to get it done? Jumbo 30Y rates can be had in the mid-3s!
From MND:
http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/consumer_rates/515770.aspx
Mortgage rates had another great day, with most lenders maintaining or improving upon yesterday’s 4-month lows. Given that we’d have to go back to May 8th, 2015 to see better rates, we’re very close to ‘5-month lows.’ In terms of top-tier conventional 30yr fixed rate quotes, 3.875% remains most prevalent. A growing number of lenders are quoting 3.75% and only a few remain up at 4.0%. Not all borrowers will see a change in their quoted rate over the past few days, but in those cases, the closing costs would be lower or the lender credit would be higher.
Although there was a reasonable chance that we’d see increased volatility in the markets that underlie mortgage rates today, trading remained calm and positive. Stock prices and bond yields continued to diverge. This could have something to do with the way investors approached the end of the month and quarter. In other words, the volatility that was a risk today, could instead simply be waiting for the new month/quarter tomorrow. In any event, Friday’s big jobs report always has the potential to send rates quickly in either direction. While that does mean there could be further improvement for those willing to roll the dice on the economic data, it’s hard to argue against taking that risk off the table with rates near 5-month lows.
Huge single level main house that’s undergone a $600,000 remodel, plus two guest houses for the extended family too. An incredible parklike setting perfect for kids to run around – and go to Roger Rowe Schools! This tennis estate has produced two high-level collegiate tennis stars! Only $2,645,000!
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/7060-Via-Del-Charro-Rancho-Santa-Fe-CA-92067/16730852_zpid/
After it looked like we were heading for flatsville, the July reading of the San Diego Case-Shiller Index experienced a big spring-like pop of 1.14% month-over-month. Here are the San Diego NSA changes for 2015:
| Month | |||
| January | |||
| February | |||
| March | |||
| April | |||
| May | |||
| June | |||
| July |
Statistics like these are going to bounce around, so making a decision based on one month’s reading is ill-advised. But the trend this year has been positive!
