CAR you and I have had this debate before and I don’t see the need to rehash it. I would point out a few things though… the purchases we make are at trustee sales and are all cash. The return we make is okay but the risk we take is substantial. I think it is VERY arguable that people like us who buy for cash at trustee sale are hardly reducing inventory and in fact are doing the opposite, making inventory more available at a faster pace then it would be in our absence. To say that the “average” homebuyer is one who buys for cash at trustee sales is simply not the case.

I think that your beef is with flippers and speculators who purchase homes and compete with the bulk of homebuyers. Fair enough. However as pointed out earliers, dont hate the players hate the game. True these types are gaming the system, using easy credit to finance the purchases and then flipping them. So you choose to focus your ire at them rather then the fcked up system that allows them to do this. From the government to the lenders to wall street who securitized those same mortgages. So yes there were/are players who gamed the system but I hardly attribute the vast blowup to them. We can agree to disagree there and I am ok with it as you are.

I think making a statement that 40% of the buyers on the market are flippers is laughable. When I went to Andalucia at 9:45 for a visit to look at the models and the place is friggin PACKED with engineers I bet you couldn’t find a single flipper there. Do you think people are swarming la costa valley right now are all flipping? Are PQ homes that are getting swarmed on being flipped? Yes I do see some people and have some clients who are buying homes as rentals but I hardly call them flippers or speculators. Nor would I lump them into the same category as those who bought in 04 simply to sell in inventory and realize 30% gains.

So… I do understand the type of flipper you are targetting. However I think that by far the people I see at trustee sale in no way are that type. I think they/we are taking a very valid risk and earning our return by doing so.